In the summer of 1876, a decisive new chapter opened in the history of musical theatre.
The premiere of Der Ring des Nibelungen in the specially built Bayreuth Festspielhaus was an aesthetic, philosophical and above all artistic revolution.

During this ‘stage festival play’     – consisting of  Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung – Richard Wagner set out the principles of his new doctrine, inspired by ancient tragedy, in an attempt to unite art and society.

The Gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art stemming from ancient Greece, was reborn from its ashes!

Wagner preferred the term ‘music drama’ to ‘opera’, a notion that he felt had been hollowed out insofar as the means of expression (music) had become the object of expression to the detriment of the drama.
Here, all art forms, including music, theatre and poetry, are brought together to create, conjointly, the drama.

In addition, the poet composer wrote four libretti, giving words a fundamental role in both the theatrical and musical expression. For this purpose, he drew on Nordic (Germanic and Scandinavian) mythology, employing thirty-four characters to tell of the perversion of the world, brought about by the renunciation of love in order to gain power.

To achieve the linguistic unification of this colossal score, Wagner put an end to the predominance of the singers and of the voice by granting the orchestra a decisive place – that of narrator, which the Greeks reserved for the ancient choir.

Performing the Ring is a challenge for any opera house.
La Monnaie is going to take it up over two seasons, under the impetus of two emblematic members of its artistic family, brought together for the first time: conductor Alain Altinoglu and director Romeo Castellucci.

PERFORMANCES

OCTOBER
24, 26, 28 and 31 at 19:30

NOVEMBER
3, 7 and 9  at 19:30
5 at 15:00