Valentin Schwarz’s Thought-Provoking New Production of Wagner's Ring From the 2022 Bayreuth Festival Streams Exclusively on STAGE+
Deutsche Grammophon’s new STAGE+ platform – a ground-breaking classical music subscription service, offering livestreams, a huge video archive and new audio releases all in one place – exclusively streams Valentin Schwarz’s thought-provoking new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen from the 2022 Bayreuth Festival from Monday 28 November.
There will be three streaming time slots for each of the four Ring performances to accommodate viewers in different time zones. Shortly afterwards, these streams will move to the STAGE+ archive as video-on-demand content and will be available for subscribers to stream at any time.
This new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival was the opera event of the 2022 Festival summer. Young director Valentin Schwarz reimagines the mythical story in the present day and tells a gripping family saga in the world of the rich and powerful. Musical direction comes from Cornelius Meister.
Now also available on STAGE+ to watch on demand, is Patrice Chéreau’s legendary “Centenary Ring” from Bayreuth Festival in 1980.
28.11.2022, 18:00 ÷ 29.11.2022, 00:00 ÷ 29.11.2022, 10:00 (GMT)
In Das Rheingold, the antagonists Wotan and Alberich are hostile twin brothers, and it is not the gold from the Rhine that is stolen at the outset, but a child, emphasizing the fact that dynasties are always overshadowed by the question of who will one day inherit power.
Soloists: Attilio Glaser (Tenor), Jens-Erik Aasbø (Bass), Arnold Bezuyen (Tenor), Lea-ann Dunbar (Soprano), Stephanie Houtzeel (Mezzo-Soprano), Daniel Kirch (Tenor), Christa Mayer (Mezzo-Soprano), Raimund Nolte (Bass-Baritone), Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Bass), Olafur Sigurdarson (Baritone), Egils Silins (Bass-Baritone), Katie Stevenson (Mezzo-Soprano), Elisabeth Teige (Soprano), Okka von der Damerau (Mezzo-Soprano)
Ensemble: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Cornelius Meister
30.11.2022, 18:00 ÷ 1.12.2022, 00:00 ÷ 1.12.2022, 10:00 (GMT)
In the second part of the tetralogy, Schwarz delves in particular into the relationship between Wotan, the father of the gods, and his “favorite daughter” Brünnhilde, showing it as especially unhappy and traumatic. Lise Davidsen and Klaus Florian Vogt prove themselves audience favourites for their portrayal of the siblings and lovers Sieglinde and Siegmund.
Soloists: Stéphanie Müther (Soprano), Lise Davidsen (Soprano), Kelly God (Soprano), Stephanie Houtzeel (Mezzo-Soprano), Daniela Köhler (Soprano), Tomasz Konieczny (Bass-Baritone), Christa Mayer (Mezzo-Soprano), Brit-Tone Müllertz (Soprano), Marie Henriette Reinhold (Mezzo-Soprano), Katie Stevenson (Mezzo-Soprano), Iréne Theorin (Soprano), Klaus Florian Vogt (Tenor), Georg Zeppenfeld (Bass)
Ensemble: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Cornelius Meister
2.12.2022, 18:00 ÷ 3.12.2022, 00:00 ÷ 3.12.2022, 10:00 (GMT)
In Siegfried, Schwarz underlines the tragicomic elements in the relationship between the title hero and his foster father, Mime. The production also finds original and novel images for Siegfried’s encounter with the dragon and Brünnhilde’s liberation from the circle of fire. As Siegfried, Andreas Schager makes light of the role’s legendary challenges.
Soloists: Arnold Bezuyen (Tenor), Daniela Köhler (Soprano), Tomasz Konieczny (Bass-Baritone), Andreas Schager (Tenor), Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Bass), Olafur Sigurdarson (Baritone), Alexandra Steiner (Soprano), Okka von der Damerau (Mezzo-Soprano)
Ensemble: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Cornelius Meister
4.12.2022, 18:00 ÷ 5.12.2022, 00:00 ÷ 5.12.2022, 10:00 (GMT)
The final part of the tetralogy sees Siegfried abandon his beloved Brünnhilde, allowing himself to be taken in by the Gibichungen and the unscrupulous Hagen and succumbing to the advances of Gutrune. Schwarz once more features the powerful symbol of a child and turns the horse Grane into a human companion of Brünnhilde, who also plays a central role in the shocking final image.
Soloists: Stéphanie Müther (Sopran), Albert Dohmen (Bass-Bariton), Lea-ann Dunbar (Sopran), Kelly God (Sopran), Stephen Gould (Tenor), Stephanie Houtzeel (Mezzosopran), Michael Kupfer-Radecky (Bariton), Christa Mayer (Mezzosopran), Olafur Sigurdarson (Bariton), Katie Stevenson (Mezzosopran), Elisabeth Teige (Sopran), Iréne Theorin (Sopran), Okka von der Damerau (Mezzosopran)
Ensemble: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Conductor: Cornelius Meister
