Breaking: Wagner’s Ring is leaving London
UncategorizedWhile state-funded opera companies are being strangled by Arts Cancel England, the private sector is thriving in country houses across the south of England.
Today, the irrepressible Wasfi Kani announced a Ring cycle to be stage in the heart of the Surrey stockbroker belt. It’s an astonishing venture for a cheeky startup and something of a game-changer.
Under ACE funding rules, no state-supported Ring cycle ever left the capital. Eksewhere, an Opera North staging had a limited tour a few years back.
Here’s the press release:
Buckle up Wagnerians! The Ring Cycle is coming to Surrey
Starting in 2026, Grange Park Opera undertakes the mammoth feat of staging the complete Ring Cycle across four successive years.
Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (usually known simply as The Ring Cycle) starts in 2026 with Das Rheingold, followed by Die Walküre (2027), Siegfried (2028) and finishing with Götterdämmerung in 2029.
The Ring Cycle makes unprecedented theatrical demands. A magic helmet makes people disappear; a man is transformed into a snake; quickly followed by a toad. A ring of fire encircles a rock. In the end the Rhine overflows its banks, carrying with it both gods and humans, cleansing the world. The Ring Cycle is a cosmic undertaking, the supreme test for any opera company. Grange Park Opera is stepping up.
The remarkable acoustic of the five-tier opera house in Surrey has proved a perfect fit Wagner’s sound world. The audience enjoys the intimacy of a compact theatre, whilst enveloped in the vibrations emerging from the 70-seat pit.
The Ring Cycle will be directed and designed by Charles Edwards, acclaimed last summer for his Tristan & Isolde. Conductors for the cycle will include Anthony Negus, one of the leading Wagnerian exponents of our day.
Das Rheingold will open with David Stout as the dwarf Alberich, stealing the gold to rule the world. James Rutherford will portray Wotan, ruler of the Gods, married to the Fricka of Christine Rice. Her sister Freia is played by Rachel Nicholls, our Brünnhilde for the remainder of the cycle. This outstanding UK cast is completed by Matthew Rose and David Shipley as the giants, outsmarted by Nicky Spence as Loge, the god of Fire.
Charles Edwards says this is a dream come true “Around 1980 I would visit my local library to borrow LPs: G&S, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rigoletto … and then I heard scenes from The Ring. What was this? I became obsessed with Wagner and for 40 years, I’ve never stopped listening to it, thinking about it, dreaming up productions, imagining casts. I’ve listened to every great conductor plying his Wagnerian trade.
‘I don’t think of The Ring as a tragic, upsetting, world-ending misery. So much of it is funny. Wagner had a (usually ironic) sense of humour. He was the greatest, revolutionary real theatre-maker and he loved the idea of smashing things up to re-make them.
‘Aged 16 I won a school essay prize (writing about Wagner of course). The prize was money to travel. With my mother I travelled from Musselburgh to visit Bayreuth. We didn’t see any operas, but I saw models of the original designs. Wagner imagined The Ring in 1876 in those terms, and their beauty and mystery inspire me as was seen in my Tristan last year.”
‘Later that year I got the train down to London alone to see Das Rheingold (standing ticket) at ROH – my first visit there. I returned to Edinburgh on the milk train.”
Founder of Grange Park Opera, Wasfi Kani CBE said, “We’ve been trying out Wagner for some time now – in our acoustic, in our pit and in audience reaction. Emboldened by the success of Die Walküre (2017), Flying Dutchman (2022) and Tristan & Isolde (2023), we took a deep collective breath and decided the time is ripe for the biggest challenge of all: his Ring Cycle. It is a hugely exciting development that we hope will move us to the next level of recognition. So, buckle up, Wagnerians!”
For more information visit www.grangeparkopera.co.uk and follow the social media channels for regular news updates: X (formally Twitter) @grangeparkopera / Facebook grangeparkoperasurrey / Instagram @grangeparkopera
Wow- Can’t wait!
Surrey, you don’t give Freia and the Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde to the same singer.
Kirsten Flagstad sang both Fricka and Brünnhilde, so I see no reason why Rachel Nicholls shouldn’t.
Freia isn’t Fricka.
Oops, I misread, sorry.
All hail to the indefatigable Wasfi! But let us not forget Longborough….
Yes, Longborough was first, by quite a few years. It was VERY good, thanks to the inspiring musicianship of musical director Anthony Negus who attracted the best of the best. GPO will have a tough job coming anywhere close to his standard.
Indeed. Longborough put on a crtically acclaimed Ring Cycle in 2013.
A new Rheingold, Siegfiied and Gotterdammerung have already been seen – and magnificent they all were. The full cycles, this June and July, are sure to be a triumph in all departments.
I am sure that Longborough’s pioneering work has helped to give others the confidence to follow.
Rehearsals are currently underway for this year’s Ring Cycle at Longborough, with Anthony Negus conducting. Sounds marvellous!
Good for Wasfi, she’s a force of nature. Good cast, too.
“Under ACE funding rules, no state-supported Ring cycle ever left the capital.”
Why?
Barry, didn’t you know – EVERYthing revolves around London. Nothing of any importance EVER happens outside of London.
Other contributors here have reminded us that ENO did in fact take the Ring out of London, and the Opera North Ring received a lot of attention.
Furthermore, the ROH made two serious attempts to set up a base in Manchester, which seems to undermine your argument.
How much will the Tickets be for the ring cycle
I may be wrong as it was a long time ago but didn’t Reginald Goodall do something with WNO, perhaps in the 70’s?
Yes, I was there.
Not true. The ENO Ring toured in the 1980s!
The ENO toured the Ring Cycle in 1979. I was the Stage Manager. We toured to Manchester, Birmingham and Sunderland if I remember correctly. There was a dreadful snowstorm in Sunderland and only half the chorus managed to get up from London for Gotterdammerung.
Weird headline – the Ring is not leaving London (the current woeful production will probably continue). Actually, a non-London house is staging its own production, as Longborough has done for some years, as has Opera North, as has Welsh National Opera (if I remember rightly, they brought theirs to London).
I am old-school and prefer seeing my Ring Cycle within a week period not 4 years. This is why people go to San Francisco and Bayreuth.
It is quite common for opera houses to prepare the separate operas over a few years before giving the whole cycle.
Well they can call me in 4 years when they’re ready to put on the whole cycle, as the Meister had intended.
And MUPA in Budapest
This is great news, and I’m really looking forward to a new Ring in the UK. Having said that (thanks, LD)….
…Charles Edwards says “I don’t think of The Ring as a tragic, upsetting, world-ending misery. So much of it is funny”.
May I deconstruct that?
“Tragic” – the Ring IS tragic. Many characters die, and love does not always triumph.
“Upsetting” – OMFG, please could we stop bending over backwards to avoid upsetting millennial snowflakes? The Ring is a story. It’s not real life, geddit?
“World-ending” – well, it would be kinda delusional to claim that the world does NOT end at the end of the cycle.
“Misery” – here, Charles is correct. Yes, the world ends, but the music tells us that love brings redemption.
“Funny” – ok, a few scenes are funny. Most of them are in Siegfried. But for a director to prioritise humour over profundity would be misguided. Why has it become so unfashionable to take Wagner (and many other great artists) seriously?
Please be traditional. None of this ridiculous modern staging that makes a mockery of the text!
Exactly. For me when the NY Met. replaced their stunning Ring Cycle which reflected perfectly the composers libretto it was the end of paying in future a high price for cocked up productions.
Yes, let’s assume audiences are so unimaginative they need things spelled out in pageant-style stagings, devoid of any drama and suitable only for primary schools.
And the Regents Opera Ring will continue and conclude with two full cycles in February 2025… also not ACE funded, though remaining in London… with tickets available for under £40/constituent opera.
From review in http://www.london-unattached.com:
“There are some wonderful moments when Siegfried forged his sword on a toilet before slashing the bog in twain with a clean sweep. His adoptive father Mime and pseudo-uncle Alberich treated us to a top hat and cane dance while waiting for a dragon to die.”
It would be nice to have an opportunity to see the occasional, tree, river, rock or spear in the time that I’ve got left, no matter how oh-so-clever and meaningful the toilet is.
Wrong link, Iain. Here’s the correct one:
https://www.london-unattached.com/siegfried-regents-opera/
It’s misleading of you to choose those two sentences from a long and thoughtful review. I’d urge Wagnerians to read the whole review and book for the complete cycle, now relocated to the York Hall in Bethnal Green, before it sells out.
Did you see the production? If so, you would know that Regents Opera’s venues and budget preclude rocks, trees and rivers. So an alternative mise-en-scene was needed. For something more traditional, look out for returns for Longborough’s sold-out Ring this summer.
“Regents Opera’s venues and budget preclude rocks, trees and rivers.”
Doesn’t really explain why a toilet is a reasonable substitute though, does it?
I don’t like panto, even with some of the best music ever composed.
Concert performances have many virtues.
Anthony Negus led Melbourne Opera’s Ring in the gold rush town of Bendigo last year to great acclaim.Interestingly,half the audience came from Melbourne and the other half from the rest of Oz and overseas.No government funding either,although it pumped $7.5 mill into the local economy!