Liceu launches new cycle of Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen'

The Gran Teatre del Liceu has announced its new production of Wagner's four-opera Ring cycle, 'Der Ring des Nibelungen,' which will launch in the 2026/27 season. 

It will feature musical direction by Jonathan Nott, coinciding with his debut as the Barcelona opera house's new music director.

Víctor Garcia de Gomar, artistic director of the Liceu, said that Wagner reveals "a mythical world that speaks of the present, of the birth of power, of corruption and of the fracture of an order that seemed eternal."

Garcia de Gomar stressed that the proposal by Tobias Kratzer, stage director, "intertwines myth and modernity in a production that is full of poetic and unsettling images, turning the legend into a vibrant and contemporary theatrical experience."

In total, four new productions will be premiered through the 2029/30 season: 'Das Rheingold,' 'Die Walküre,' 'Siegfried' and 'Götterdämmerung.'

Jonathan Nott said that he has always thought that the main marvel of the Ring cycle is that one does not have to know anything and does not have to be an expert on the work. "Come and experience it," he said, addressing the audience.

Das Rheingold

In 'Das Rheingold,' the beginning of the 'Der Ring des Nibelungen,' Kratzer places the emphasis on an aspect of the work that in recent decades has remained in the background: the theme of religion.

This new cycle of productions of 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' premiered at the Bavarian State Opera on October 27, 2024 with 'Das Rheingold,' within the framework of a co-production between the Munich opera house and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. 

The last time the Liceu presented Wagner's Ring cycle was between the 2012/13 and 2015/16 seasons.