Das Rheingold

Constituting the Vorabend or 'preliminary evening' of the cycle, Das Rheingold is full of bright colours, humour and irony, and is more fairy tale than myth. With great narrative gusto, Wagner presents the Fall: the craving for the treasure - and power - that has everyone in its thrall. Along, of course, with the story of Wotan's arrogant architectural folly: he is bent on having Valhalla and will pay any price for it... The society of gods clearly resembles the human world: everyone is just as petty and fallible as the people we encounter in our own lives.
One thing constant about the production is the perfectionism with which Ádám Fischer always finds new colours in the music and the deep humanism of his conducting, as well as the imaginative reconceptualisation that Hartmut Schörghofer's directing brings to the work. And what is new? A change of personnel in the central role. Following James Rutherford's turn at the role in 2017, this year we welcome back the wonderful - and very versatile - Danish baritone Johan Reuter as Wotan. Two other important roles remain in the same safe hands as last time, with the outstanding Péter Kálmán as Alberich and Gerhard Siegel as Mime. Zsolt Haja (Donner), Atala Schöck (Fricka) and Lilla Horti (Freia) will also be familiar from the 2017 cast. For those who have never warmed to or really known Wagner, it would be sound advice to start with Das Rheingold as the work to ‘master' the composer - and to cultivate the urge to see and hear the other three works in the tetralogy.

A music drama in four scenes (German-language performance, with projected surtitles in Hungarian).