The Ring (known as the Ring of the Nibelungen) is a monument to the history of humanity. Inspired by old Germanic legends, Richard Wagner signs a unique musical gesture: 4 consecutive operas (a prologue followed by three days) which form a whole of about twenty hours. However, almost twenty years separate the first work from the last.  Composed in 1854, L’Or du Rhin has nothing to do musically with the language of Twilight of the Gods. However, Wagner assembles his works through the use of famous “leitmotifs” and a dense network of meanings and themes in echoes. If the bravura pieces abound in music, the kind that we wait for with a beating heart when we know the cycle (let’s quote just for fun: the prelude to Rhinegold, the Ride of the Valkyries, the whispers of the forest, the awakening of Brünnhilde and so many other magical moments…), the Ring is also supported by a remarkable libretto. In each era, directors have been able to bring the Wagnerian gesture closer to our time: Wieland Wagner in the 1950s, Patrice Chéreau in the mid-1970s and now the Austrian Valentin Schwarz whose vision is given here after its creation in 2022. At Schwarz, we are no longer in the world of the gods: the myth is here with absent subscribers. Here, the famous Ring of the Nibelungen is a child to whom the family fortune is passed on, making the Ring an astonishing satire of our contemporary capitalist society.

At the Festspielhaus:

L’OR DU RHIN

Simone Young: Musical direction

Valentin Schwarz : Director

Tomasz Konieczny : Wotan

Nicholas Brownlee : Donner

Mirko Roschkowski : Froh

Christa Mayer : Fricka

Christina Nilsson : Freia

Okka von der Damerau : Erda

Olafur Sigurdarson : Alberich

Arnold Bezuyen : Mime

Jens-Erik Aasbø : Fasolt

Tobias Kehrer : Fafner

Evelin Novak : Woglinde

John Daszak : Loge

Marie Henriette : Rheinhold  Floßhilde

From the Prelude in E-flat major of Rheingold, we enter another world. In Wagner’s work, the music is on the dimensions of the universe and with this prelude symbolizing the Rhine, Wagner takes us into the world of the gods, the main heroes of the first part (the composer prefers to speak of a “prologue”) of the Ring Cycle. While L’Or du Rhin has a number of memorable musical moments (the scene at the forge! the entrance of the Gods into Valhalla!), the director chooses a deliberately materialistic version here. Like a contemporary American series, the individual and selfishness take precedence in the Wagnerian gods: the famous Ring of the Nibelungen here becomes an heir, who must carry a heavy family history. To interpret this modern and invigorating vision, the Bayreuth Festival has called on the great Australian conductor Simone Young (former music director of the Hamburg Opera) and a large part of the vocal cast (experienced in Wagnerian singing) who made the success of the show’s premiere in 2022.

At the Festspielhaus:

THE VALKYRIE

Simone Young: Musical direction

Valentin Schwarz : Director

Michael Spyres : Siegmund

Georg Zeppenfeld : Hunding

Tomasz Konieczny : Wotan

Vida Miknevičiūtė : Sieglinde

Catherine Foster : Brünnhilde

Christa Mayer : Fricka

Brit-Tone Müllertz : Ortlinde

Christa Mayer : Schwertleite

Marie Henriette : Rheinhold  Grimgerde

Catharine Woodward : Gerhilde

Noa Beinart : Rossweisse

The second installment of the Ring, Die Walküre completely reshuffles the cards and stakes of Rhinegold. There is something of a soap opera in the fabulous family dynasty imagined by Wagner. New characters appear, dependent on the mistakes and flaws of their elders. The director Valentin Schwarz once again favours a resolutely human and materialistic vision, the famous Valkyries (who are in charge of bringing the bodies of the deceased to Valhalla) are here clients of a cosmetic surgery clinic! But beware, if Schwarz “desacralizes” the Wagnerian gesture, the stakes of the Ring are perfectly respected and deepened. Among the highlights of the score are Tomasz Konieczny‘s majestic Wotan, Catherine Foster‘s moving Brünnhilde in the moving scene of Wotan’s farewell to his daughter followed by the Incantation of Fire. But the hero of the evening, in addition to the conductor Simone Young who prolongs the Wagnerian fire in the pit, will perhaps be Michael Spyres’ Siegmund, an admirable singer especially in the French repertoire and who confirms here that he can sing everything in the most wonderful way.

At the Festspielhaus – optional performance:

TANNHÄUSER, by R. Wagner

Nathalie Stutzmann : Musical direction

Tobias Kratzer : Director

Günther Groissböck : Landgraf Hermann

Klaus Florian Vogt : Tannhäuser

Markus Eiche : Wolfram von Eschenbach

Siyabonga Maqungo : Walther von der Vogelweide

Olafur Sigurdarson : Biterolf

Jens-Erik Aasbø : Reinmar von Zweter

Elisabeth Teige : Elisabeth

Ekaterina Gubanova :Venus

Nathalie Stutzmann was a great singer, especially in the Romantic and Baroque repertoire. With panache, the French musician has become one of the great conductors of our time, fully assuming the direction of the prestigious Atlanta Orchestra and a prestigious career as a guest conductor. Last year, Nathalie Stutzmann created a sensation by becoming the second female conductor invited to the Bayreuth Festival. Her performance as Tannhäuser was unanimously appreciated and she returns to direct the work with a cast that is perhaps even more prestigious than the previous summer: Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role, Günther Groissböck as Landgraf Hermann and Elisabeth Teige as Elisabeth. In addition, the show directed by Tobias Kratzer is one of the most undeniable successes of recent Bayreuth.      

At the Festspielhaus:

SIEGFRIED

Simone Young: Musical direction

Valentin Schwarz : Director

Klaus Florian Vogt : Siegfried

Arnold Bezuyen : Mime

Tomasz Konieczny : Le randonneur

Olafur Sigurdarson : Alberich

Tobias Kehrer : Fafner

Okka von der Damerau : Erda

Catherine Foster : Brünhilde

The third installment of the Ring, Siegfried is the absolute center of the saga. It was with the writing of the libretto for the latter that it all began for Wagner in 1848. Musically, the Song of the Forge and the famous Whispers of the Forest are among the most beautiful moments of the Ring Cycle. However, the genesis of the work was extremely complex. The composition began in 1856, but following difficulties in his personal life (in the meantime he had written Tristan und Isolde), Wagner allowed seven years to pass to complete the opera. The evolution of the musical language is considerable: the libretto multiplies intimate scenes with two characters, carried by the flow of an orchestra of cosmic dimensions. Siegfried premiered on 16 August 1876, during the very first Bayreuth Festival. At the premiere in 2022, Siegfried appeared as the most accomplished achievement of Valentin Schwarz‘s Ring Cycle. It must be said that it will once again be carried this year by Klaus Florian Vogt‘s singular Siegfried (a singer who already belongs to the singing legend), Okka von der Damerau‘s impressive Erda and Catherine Foster‘s Brünnhilde, whose vocal format is ideally suited to the Bayreuth stage.

At the Festspielhaus – optional performance:

PARSIFAL, by R. Wagner

Pablo Heras-Casado: Musical direction

Jay Scheib : Director      

Andreas Schager : Parsifal

Derek Welton : Amfortas

Tobias Kehrer : Titurel                    

Georg Zeppenfeld : Gurnemanz

Jordan Shanahan : Klingsor

Ekaterina Gubanova : Kundry 

This is a show that has already become legendary! During the previous Bayreuth, everyone was talking about him and especially about the… 3D glasses distributed to the audience at the entrance of the theatre. This technological addition (the show can be followed perfectly without it) should not, however, serve as a veil for the relevance and power of Jay Scheib‘s director’s vision. Here, the ritual imagined by Richard Wagner for his last opera has all the magic and mysticism required, and it is not the direction of the Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado that will diminish its visionary dimension. Created and imagined for Bayreuth, Parsifal resonates and unfolds like nowhere else in the setting of the theatre designed expressly for him. The voices gathered tonight are wonderful: Andreas Schager is a “chaste fool” with a brassy timbre, Derek Walton an Apollonian Amfortas, Ekaterina Gubanova an incendiary Kundry and Georg Zeppenfeld a profound Gurnemanz. Among the most beautiful scenes of the show is Act II, known as the “Flower Women”, with its miraculously adjusted scenography.

At the Festspielhaus:

TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

Simone Young: Musical direction

Valentin Schwarz : Director

Klaus Florian Vogt : Siegfried

Michael Kupfer-Radecky : Gunther

Olafur Sigurdarson : Alberich

Mika Kares : Hagen

Catherine Foster : Brünnhilde

Gabriela Scherer : Gutrune

Christa Mayer : Waltraute

Evelin Novak : Woglinde

Noa Beinart : Witch n°1

Alexandra Ionis : Witch n°2

Christina Nilsson : Witch n°3

Marie Henriette : Rheinhold  Floßhilde

We are coming to the end of the road. Attending a performance of the Ring in its entirety, especially in the mythical precincts of the Bayreuth Theatre, is always a revelation. It is in this last part that directors and conductors further deepen their visions of a history and music that are decidedly immortal. In keeping with his materialist vision, Valentin Schwarz has created a Twilight of the Gods with a powerful satirical force, the reign of men dangerously similar to the ultra-rich who govern us today. Following in the footsteps of the much-missed Stephen Gould (he passed away in September 2023), Klaus-Florian Vogt composes an unforgettable Siegfried.

At the Festspielhaus – optional performance:

TRISTAN AND ISOLDE, by R. Wagner

Semyon Bychkov : Musical direction

Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson : Director

Andreas Schager : Tristan

Camilla Nylund : Isolde

Günther Groissböck : Marke                   

Olafur Sigurdarson : Kurwenal

Birger Radde : Melot

Ekaterina Gubanova : Brangäne

Tristan und Isolde is indeed one of the admirable love stories ever told, all arts combined. Conceived as an interlude during the composition of Siegfried (3rd part of the Ring Cycle), the opera achieves a complete fusion between text and music. From the first bars of the prelude (the famous dissonant chord of Tristan), Wagner carries us away in an insane torrent of passions. Act 2 reaches musical and vocal heights, which have probably never been equalled before. For the 2024 edition, the Bayreuth Festival presents a new production of Tristan und Isolde by Icelandic director Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson. Premieres in Bayreuth are always a unique experience and have many surprises in store. In the pit, Semyon Bychkov (current director of the prestigious Czech Philharmonic) and the title couple Andreas Schager/Camilla Nylund, Ekaterina Gubanova‘s Brangäne and Günther Groissböch‘s Marke augur well for a high-flying evening.