Opera Preview: WAGNER RING CYCLE (Audio-Stream, LA Opera)

Ten years after presenting Wagner’s epic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen in its first complete staging produced in the city of Los Angeles, Music Director James Conlon and LA Opera invite online audiences to experience these historic performances through a marathon audio stream of all four music dramas back-to-back. The “Ring-a-athon” plays Saturday, July 25, 2020 with Das Rheingold beginning at 8 am; Die Walküre at 11 am; Siegfried at 3 pm; Götterdämmerung (Act I) at 7 pm, and Götterdämmerung (Act II & III) at 9:15 pm (all times PST).

Listen via LA Opera’s Facebook channel (@LAOpera) or at LAOpera.org/Ring.

See below to learn about Wagner’s Ring cycle with Mr. Conlon:

In the most recent episode of LA Opera’s James Conlon at Home podcast, “Reflections on the Ring,” Mr. Conlon said:

“The 2010 production of Wagner’s full Der Ring des Nibelungen represented a major milestone in the still relatively short existence of LA Opera, as Los Angeles had never seen an indigenous production. Giving birth to this mammoth four-opera cycle is a major undertaking that challenges and defines an opera company. We set out to forge a heroic sword as Siegfried does, and carry it through a rite of passage and into a new era of maturity.

“Now, on this occasion, the 2020 re-broadcasting of the LA Opera Ring on its tenth anniversary, the unlimited emotional force of the music can be experienced in a special way. The ear is the direct medium to the heart and its emotions. Whether “interpreted” as Freudian or Jungian, Marxist or Keynesian, as social criticism, political science or spiritual tract, the whole is greater than the interpretations, its fullness more powerful than its reduction. It is the conductor’s task to realize both the primordial power of the music and its drama. The two are intertwined and inseparable.”

To enrich the experience of these performances, Mr. Conlon also brings back his popular pre-performance talks from 2010. Like all of his pre-performance talks in Stern Grand Hall, these draw upon musicology, literary studies, history and social sciences to share with the audience the enduring power and relevance of the music. Discussions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre are currently available:

The pre-performance talk on Siegfried may be accessed on Tuesday, July 21 via LAOpera.org/Conlon or SoundCloud.com/LAOpera, with Götterdämmerung to follow later in the week.

Two days prior to the marathon webcast, Mr. Conlon will also discuss the Ring in Episode 3 of Coffee with Conlon, on Thursday, July 23 at 10:00 a.m. PT. In this LA Opera at Home series, Mr. Conlon explores topics in opera over a virtual cup of coffee with viewers, who may submit questions in advance here.

Watch Coffee with Conlon at LAOpera.org/LAOatHome or Facebook.