THE RING CYCLE  Music and libretto Richard Wagner

Wagner’s colossal four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen brought German Romantic opera to its consummation. In music of immeasurable invention and inspiration, his vision of the epic clash of gods and heroes presents a vast universe of intrigue, power, conflict, heroism, sacrifice and love, culminating in the final cataclysm of Götterdämmerung. The Mariinsky Theatre’s acclaimed production of Wagner’s masterpiece received its historic premiere in 2003 at the Mariinsky Theatre on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the founding of St.Petersburg, the first Ring cycle to be produced by a Russian opera company since 1914 and the first to be sung in the original German. Since then, under the charismatic baton of Valery Gergiev, the production has been rapturously received by audiences and critics in Europe, Korea, Japan, Beijing and New York.

Now the Mariinsky Ring cycle, hailed by the New York Times as

‘one of the four or five most important stagings since the middle of the last century’,

 

Receives its premiere at the Royal Opera House, giving London audiences the opportunity to witness at first hand the brilliance of Valery Gergiev and George Tsypin’s thrilling conception, drawing on primordial Russian, Caucasian and Scythian folk mythology. The outstanding performances of some of the world’s finest singers together with the Mariinsky’s superb orchestra, led by Valery Gergiev, bring a rediscovery of Wagner’s glorious music through an extraordinary experience.