What is the Ring?

One of the most influential music/theater works ever created, Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen tells an epic story of monumental scale drawn from Norse mythology, over the course of four complete operas: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. The plot concerns a magic ring that gives its bearer the power to rule the world. Created by the evil Alberich, the ring is successively possessed by Wotan, the king of the gods, then by the dragon Fafner, and eventually by Wotan’s grandson, Siegfried. Ultimately, Siegfried’s widow Brünnhilde returns the ring to its source, thus ending the reign of the gods. Conceived as a festival event, it was developed over the course of 28 years, with the first performances of the completed cycle taking place in 1876. It is the embodiment of Wagner’s concept of a “complete work of art.”


The Ring in Los Angeles

LA Opera’s Ring will be the first complete Ring to be presented in Los Angeles and the first time that any Ring production has been created specifically for Los Angeles.

 
Timeline

Each of the four operas that make up the Ring will be introduced individually during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons. In summer of 2010, the Company will present three complete Ring cycles, in which all four Ring operas are performed in order each week.
 

Ring Cycle dates

Cycle 1: Das Rheingold (Sat May 29, 7:30pm); Die Walküre (Sun May 30, 6pm);
Siegfried (Thu June 3, 6pm); Götterdämmerung (Sun June 6, 5pm)

Cycle 2: Das Rheingold (Tue June 8, 7:30pm); Die Walküre (Thu June 10, 6pm);
Siegfried (Sun June 13, 12pm); Götterdämmerung (Wed June 16, 6pm)

Cycle 3: Das Rheingold (Fri June 18, 7:30pm); Die Walküre (Sun June 20, 12pm);
Siegfried (Wed June 23, 6pm); Götterdämmerung (Sat June 26, 5pm)

 
Creative team and casting

James Conlon (conductor), Achim Freyer (director/designer), Amanda Freyer (costumes); Brian Gale (lighting); mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung (Fricka/Waltraute), tenor Plácido Domingo (Siegmund), tenor Graham Clark (Mime), mezzo-soprano Jill Grove (Erda), bass Eric Halfvarson (Fafner/Hunding/Hagen), baritone Gordon Hawkins (Alberich), bass Vitalij Kowaljow (Wotan/Wanderer), soprano Martina Serafin (Sieglinde), tenor John Treleaven (Siegfried), soprano Linda Watson (Brünnhilde)

 
Location

All performances take place at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90012.


Ticketing

Tickets can be purchased by telephone at 213-972-8001 or online at www.LAOpera.com