With fourteen solo roles, all o them taxing, the company scored a 99 per cent perfect. Modenos was so brilliant as singer and actor that he dominated the opera, an opera which rightfully belong to Wotan. Using the Boys Choir for the Nibelungen was an in. A few things flopped, but then, something always does. The fault was not so much the dragon's as Wagner's quite dated accompaniment to its appearance.
Implication is enough on the stage.
Wieland Wagner, for instance, accomplished wonders with lights, projecting the shadow of a snapping jaw or flashing wip of tail on great bellows of steam. At such times, the individual mind of the beholder conjures a private horror greater than any literal rendering with stage props can hope to attain. Leopold Ludwig gave us no miracles in the pit, but a good solid reading. The orchestra did well.