Buckle up Wagnerians! The Ring Cycle is coming to Surrey
Beginning in 2026, Grange Park Opera undertakes the mammoth feat of staging the entire Ring Cycle throughout 4 successive years.
Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (often identified merely as The Ring Cycle) begins in 2026 with Das Rheingold – the primary efficiency shall be on 14 June (adopted by 20 & 26 June, and 5 & 10 July).
Solid and Creatives
Wotan ∙ James Rutherford
Fricka ∙ Christine Rice
Freia ∙ Rachel Nicholls
Donner ∙ Thomas Isherwood
Alberich ∙ David Stout
Mime ∙ Adrian Thompson
Fasolt ∙ Matthew Rose
Fafner ∙ David Shipley
Loge ∙ Mark Le Brocq
Erda ∙ Sara Fulgoni
Conductor ∙ Harry Sever
Director & Set design ∙ Charlie Edwards
Costume designer ∙ Gabrielle Dalton
Lighting designer ∙ Tim Mitchell
The thrilling new manufacturing from Charles Edwards, that includes a forged of excellent British singers, comes precisely 150 years after the primary Bayreuth efficiency.
Die Walküre will observe in 2027, Siegfried in 2028 and ending with Götterdämmerung in 2029.
The Ring Cycle makes unprecedented theatrical calls for. A magic helmet makes individuals disappear; a person is remodeled right into a snake; rapidly adopted by a toad. A hoop of fireplace encircles a rock. Ultimately the Rhine overflows its banks, carrying with it each gods and people, cleaning the world. The Ring Cycle is a cosmic endeavor, the supreme check for any opera firm. Grange Park Opera is stepping up.
The exceptional acoustic of the five-tier opera home in Surrey has proved an ideal match Wagner’s soundworld. The viewers enjoys the intimacy of a compact theatre, while enveloped within the vibrations rising from the 70-seat pit.
The Ring Cycle shall be directed and designed by Charles Edwards, acclaimed final summer time for his Tristan & Isolde. Conductors for the cycle will embody Anthony Negus, one of many main Wagnerian exponents of our day.
Das Rheingold will open with David Stout because the dwarf Alberich, stealing the gold to rule the world. James Rutherford will painting Wotan, ruler of the Gods, married to the Fricka of Christine Rice. Her sister Freia is performed by Rachel Nicholls, our Brünnhilde for the rest of the cycle. This excellent UK forged is accomplished by Matthew Rose and David Shipley because the giants, outsmarted by Nicky Spence as Loge, the god of Hearth.
Charles Edwards says this can be a dream come true ‘Round 1980 I might go to my native library to borrow LPs: G&S, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rigoletto … after which I heard scenes from The Ring. What was this? I grew to become obsessive about Wagner and for 40 years, I’ve by no means stopped listening to it, serious about it, dreaming up productions, imagining casts. I’ve listened to each nice conductor plying his Wagnerian commerce.
I don’t consider The Ring as a tragic, upsetting, world-ending distress. A lot of it’s humorous. Wagner had a (often ironic) sense of humour. He was the best, revolutionary actual theatre-maker and he cherished the thought of smashing issues as much as re-make them.
Aged 16 I received a faculty essay prize (writing about Wagner in fact). The prize was cash to journey. With my mom I travelled from Musselburgh to go to Bayreuth. We didn’t see any operas, however I noticed fashions of the unique designs. Wagner imagined The Ring in 1876 in these phrases, and their magnificence and thriller encourage me as was seen in my Tristan final 12 months.
Later that 12 months I bought the practice all the way down to London alone to see Das Rheingold (standing ticket) at ROH – my first go to there. I returned to Edinburgh on the milk practice.’
Founding father of Grange Park Opera, Wasfi Kani CBE stated, ‘We’ve been making an attempt out Wagner for a while now – in our acoustic, in our pit and in viewers response. Emboldened by the success of Die Walküre (2017), Flying Dutchman (2022) and Tristan & Isolde (2023), we took a deep collective breath and determined the time is ripe for the largest problem of all: his Ring Cycle. It’s a massively thrilling growth that we hope will transfer us to the subsequent degree of recognition. So, buckle up, Wagnerians!’
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Reserving dates as follows:
Donors to the Ring Ring: Tuesday 15 July 2025 at 10am
2026 Revels Annual Members: Tuesday 15 July 2025 at 10am
Reserving for different ranges of Annual Members, please see the web site
Public reserving: Early March 2026
