Organization

Regisseur

Regisseur (+4)

Dmitri Tcherniakov

Set designer

Kostuum ontwerper

Kostuum ontwerper (+3)

Elena Zaitseva

Licht ontwerper

Licht ontwerper (+2)

Gleb Filshtinsky

Dramaturg

Dirigent (+1)

Tatiana Vereshchagina

Dramaturg (+2)

Christoph Lang

Bariton (+4)

Michael Volle

Wotan

Bas-bariton (+3)

Lauri Vasar

Donner

Tenor

Siyabonga Maqungo

Froh

Tenor (+14)

Rolando Villazón

Loge

Mezzosopraan (+3)

Claudia Mahnke

Fricka

Sopraan (+2)

Anett Fritsch

Freia

Anna Kissjudit

Erda

Bas (+2)

Peter Rose

Fafner

Bas (+4)

Mika Kares

Fasolt

Tenor (+3)

Stephan Rügamer

Mime

Evelin Novak

Woglinde

Natalia Skrycka

Wellgunde

Mezzosopraan (+4)

Anna Lapkovskaja

Flosshilde

Assistent Toneelregisseur

Regisseur (+5)

José Darío Innella

Bariton (+3)

Jochen Schmeckenbecher

Alberich

Video

Alexey Poluboyarinov

State Opera Berlin

Orchestra

Staatskapelle Berlin

Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Dirigent

Dirigent (+5)

Christian Thielemann

Thomas Guggeis

The Nibelung dwarf Alberich robs the Rhinemaidens of the Rhinegold to forge a ring that confers »endless power«. Meanwhile, Wotan, the father of the gods, is forced into action. To reward the giants Fasolt and Fafner for building the castle Valhalla, he steals the Nibelungs’ treasure with the help of Loge, the cunning fire god. Alberich curses the ring and all its future owners – the tragedy takes its course.

»The Rheingold« is the foundation of Wagner’s epochal »Ring« tetralogy, which took him around a quarter of a century to write. During this fast-paced and breathless »eve« of the stage festival, major themes are introduced through the action and the music. With the deep E notes of the double basses, Wagner reveals his mythological world, the rise and fall of which are presented to the audience on stage and in the music with great urgency. It is a world of gods, giants, dwarfs and natural beings, placed on strictly hierarchical levels and with various potential for conflict. And although the »Rheingold« bears the features of a fantasy story, much more develops from the events: a true world drama of immense proportions and universal significance that remains highly relevant in the present day. Wagner’s major family saga becomes an all-encompassing epic about power and love, war and peace, and the beneficial and disastrous effects of passions.

Duits