The Ring cycle returns to Budapest’s Opera House after 15 years

After a decade and a half, Richard Wagner’s monumental opera cycle is on stage of the refurbished Budapest Opera House for four weeks in November 2022. The production staged by Géza M. Tóth and conducted by Balázs Kocsár features a cast almost exclusively of Hungarian soloist including István Kovácsházi, Szilvia Rálik, Eszter Sümegi, Zoltán Nyári, Tünde Szabóki, Mihály Kálmándy, Béla Perencz and Krisztián Cser.

Géza M. Tóth, Béla Balázs Award recipient and Oscar nominee animated film director began re-staging the entire Ring cycle at the Opera House in 2015 based on a unified concept, following a year of preparatory work. Accompanied by spectacular projections, the production, which also carries sci-fi motifs, the production approaches the story based on Germanic and Scandinavian mythological elements from the social issues of modernity.

Photo: Hungarian State Opera/Press Release

The OPERA presented the first three instalments of the tetralogy in 2015, 2016, and 2017, while the premiere of Götterdämmerung could only take place in May 2022 due to the renovation of the historic Opera House. Thus, after 15 years, Der Ring des Nibelungen will be on stage again in its entirety in November this year twice, every Saturday and once the following week: Das Rheingold on 5 & 9, Die Walküre on 12 & 16, Siegfried on the 19 & 23, and Götterdämmerung on 26 & 29 November. The complete cycle last appeared on the OPERA programme in January 2007, then directed by Viktor Nagy and conducted by János Kovács.

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Photo: Hungarian State Opera/Press Release

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The productions features costumes by Ibolya Bárdosi, sets by Ildi Tihanyi and Gergely Z Zöldy, choreography by Marianna Venekei, and animations by KEDD Animation Studio. In the main roles, the audience can enjoy performances by leading soloists of the Hungarian State Opera, almost all acclaimed in Wagner roles: Mihály Kálmándy (Das Rheingold), Béla Perencz (Die Walküre), and Krisztián Cser (Siegfried) as Wotan, István Kovácsházi as Siegmund and Siegfried of Götterdämmerung, while Zoltán Nyári plays the title role of Siegfried, and Brünnhilde is performed by Szilvia Rálik (Die Walküre, Götterdämmerung) and Tünde Szabóki (Siegfried). Further cast includes Erika Gál as Fricka, Austrian baritone of Hungarian origin Adrian Eröd as Loge, Eszter Sümegi as Sieglinde, Atala Schöck as Erda, Zoltán Kelemen as Alberich, Tivadar Kiss as Mime, András Palerdi and István Rácz as Fasolt und Fafner. Géza Gábor takes on the characters of both Hunding and Hagen. The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus (chorus director: Gábor Csiki) are conducted by Balázs Kocsár.

Source: Hungarian State Opera/Press Release