Why Das Rheingold at Lyric is a Must-See Experience

Das Rheingold will be a season-opener like no other in October when the curtain rises on the depths of the Rhine River and the trio of careless mermaidens guarding their gold. There are loads of reasons you’ll want to join us this fall for the first installation of Richard Wagner’s epic Ring cycle.  Here are just a few:

• You love great storytelling and great music.

   

• You’re a Lord of the Rings fan.

   

• You’re curious about Norse-Teutonic mythology.

   

• You’ve read the graphic-novel versions of the Ring cycle and want to see it live on stage.

   

• You love Wagner’s grand-scale, sweeping orchestrations.

   

• You’re a steampunk fan and you’re intrigued by the funky, industrial set designs.
   
• You want to know what makes the Ring such a big deal, and this is the perfect intro.

   

• You’re a Ringhead and just can’t get enough of this stuff — and you don’t want to wait for the full weeklong cycles in 2020.

   

• You’ve enjoyed legends and fairy tales since you were a kid, and this one’s got it all — freshwater mermaids, an evil (or misunderstood?) troll who forsakes love for power in the form of a golden ring, flawed feuding gods who resort to dirty tricks to get what they want, presto-changeo transformations, eternal-youth apples, lovesick giants, murder, a castle in the sky, and lots more.

   

• You were captivated by director David Pountney’s previous productions at Lyric, most recently The Passenger, and want to see his latest creation.

   

• You want to hear anything Sir Andrew’s conducting.

   

• You’ve been thrilled by Eric Owens’s previous portrayals at Lyric, from General Grove in Doctor Atomic to the web-fingered Water Sprite in Rusalka and the title-role hero of Porgy and Bess — so of course you want to see him take on Wotan, the chief god and star of all four Ring operas.

   

• You want to know what inspired the brilliant Bugs Bunny-Elmer Fudd cartoon “What’s Opera, Doc?” — okay, so technically, it’s based more on the Ring’s second installment, Die Walküre, but close enough.

   

• You’re a lifelong student of human behavior.

   

• A Wagner opera that’s the length of a movie? Yes please!

If you haven’t yet subscribed to Lyric’s 62nd season make sure Das Rheingold is on your series!