Berlin has seen two Ring Cycles in recent years, both now appearing on DVD. At the Deutsche Oper, Stefan Herheim’s interpretation is theatrically dazzling yet incomprehensible at times despite a decent line-up of singers. At Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Dmitri Tcherniakov’s take is equally bold and marginally better cast. Its modernity may upset traditionalists, but the director’s vision is easier to understand – at least in parts.

Tcherniakov’s Rheingold – the rest of the cycle comes out in instalments – is set in a 1960s research centre with the initials E.S.C.H.E. (the word means ash tree in German, a nod to the mythical source from which Wotan wrested his authority). Here, Wagner’s gods and goddesses are scientists investigating human behaviour under various forms of mental and physical duress, a topical enough subject in an age of psychological warfare and fake news. 

The first subject under observation in the ‘stress laboratory’ is Alberich. A facility worker in overalls, he’s been confined to a chair and fitted with a sensory helmet feeding him imagery of Rhinemaidens and such. The three singers...