Das Rheingold, by R. Wagner in Berlin

Berlin

21-27 May, 2024

Your invite to a truly exceptional stay. The Deutsche Oper presents Wagner’s Ring Cycle in four consecutive evenings: Rheingoldgold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods. This exciting experience, which must be done at least once in a lifetime, is offered in Stefan Herheim’s remarkable staging. The Berlin Opera has a long Wagnerian reputation under the baton of its director Donald Runnicles. In the manner of a “winter Bayreuth”, the singers gathered here (Derek Walton, Ricarda Merbeth, Clay Hilley…) are major interpreters of the German composer. What an experience! Wagner’s masterpiece performed in ideal conditions!

Winner of several international awards, Norwegian Stefan Herheim is one of today’s most important directors: in his work, he brilliantly mixes historical events with biographical elements from the lives of composers.  An eternal traveller, the German composer lived in exile for a long time and found only in music (the Bayreuth Theatre being the most eloquent example) a permanent home. Based on this metaphor, which he extends to the current geopolitical situation, Herheim paints a stunningly rich picture: over the course of the four evenings, a community emerges, which will occupy, right down to the foyer, the entire space of the Deutsche Oper.

Director of the Berlin institution since 2007, conductor Donald Runnicles promises a musical reading that is as ardent as it is committed. Long live Wagner’s music!