Opera

Wagner's Das Rheingold

The complete Ring Cycle at the Zürich Opera

Live
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Cast

Andreas Homoki — Producer

Christian Schmidt — Set and costume design

Florian Schaaf — Assistant artistic stage designer

Franck Evin — Lighting designer

Beate Breidenbach — Dramaturgy

Werner Hintze — Dramaturgy

Tomasz Konieczny — Wotan

Xiaomeng Zhang — Donner

Omer Kobiljak — Froh

Matthias Klink — Loge

Claudia Mahnke — Fricka

Kiandra Howarth — Freia

Anna Danik — Erda

Christopher Purves — Alberich

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke — Mime

David Soar — Fasolt

Brent Michael Smith — Fafner

Program notes

Discover The Ring—Wagner’s epic four-part opera saga—just as the composer intended! After being presented separately at the Zürich Opera House over the course of the past four years, Wagner’s monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen is now being performed live in its entirety in a once-in-a-lifetime event Bachtrack describes as "dramatic music-making at its finest". In the hands of General Music Director Gianandrea Noseda and Stage Director Andreas Homoki, Wagner's myth is represented as "a dysfunctional family of gods" (The Independent) in a polished yet unpretentious production that underscores the humanity of the characters, who are performed by the same exceptional cast of singers across all four operas.

Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen draws inspiration from Norse mythology and Germanic legend. With this original cycle, he crafted a grand operatic universe filled with extraordinary tales about a powerful, cursed ring and its role in the conflict between gods and mortals. What exactly is a nibelung? Think of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and you’re not far off! Both Wagner and Tolkien were inspired by similar sources and both their stories narrate the discovery of a coveted treasure that inevitably brings doom upon its bearer. In Das Rheingold, the first opera in the series, Wagner reveals how the evil creature Alberich steals gold from the Rhine and forges a powerful ring which he curses, inflicting eternal misfortune upon all who possess it. This ring is later taken by Wotan, king of the gods, thus setting in motion the turbulent journey of The Ring of the Nibelungen and its carriers... 

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