Das Rheingold

In the beginning, there was the idea: It was in 1848, while employed in Dresden as Royal Kapellmeister, that Richard Wagner came up with the idea for the Nibelung story, which he intended to turn into a heroic national opera. Eventually this early plan was transformed into the far more dramatically comprehensive The Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy, which was first performed in 1876. The Nibelung dwarf Alberich, by renouncing love, has successfully forged a ring from the mythical Rhine gold to secure his dominion over the world. Wotan, the ruler of the gods, wishes to use this gold to pay his debts to Fasolt and Fafner, who built Valhalla Castle for him. Just when Wotan’s plan seems destined to succeed, the robbed Alberich curses the ring. In his staging for the Semperoper, director Willy Decker interprets the story of the origin of the evil ring as the genesis of the world. He begins with Erda, the mother of the gods, who launches this tale of a theatre within a theatre ...