Discover the upcoming dates for Wagner's opera Das Rheingold around the world and book your tickets now!

Das Rheingold is an opera by Wagner. Its most famous interpretations are by Daniel Barenboim and Fabio Luisi. This work is often performed at The Metropolitan Opera or at the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

The Ring of the Nibelung is a dramatic cycle in three parts and a prologue by Richard Wagner. Das Rheingold is the prologue to this tetralogy, which marks the peak of the German composer's musical writing. The opera was first performed in Munich in 1869. In this short, one-act work, Wagner establishes the main themes of his tetralogy, which continues with Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. This opera cycle draws heavily on subjects and characters from Germanic mythology.

HISTORY

The story of Das Rheingold takes place in the ancient times of Germanic mythology, before the appearance of man. Since the beginning of the world, the gold has lain at the bottom of the Rhine, where it is guarded by the three water maidens.

The dwarf Alberich, a Nibelung, courts them, but they mock him. However, he realises that the riverbed is covered with precious materials. He uses magic to extract the secret of gold from the river maidens: whoever seizes the precious metal will be able to forge a golden ring that will give them absolute power.

THE CHARACTERS

• Wotan, Father of the Gods, bass-baritone
• Loge, demigod master of fire, tenor
• Fricka, goddess wife of Wotan, mezzo-soprano
• Freia, sister of Fricka and goddess of youth, soprano
• Alberich, dwarf and master of the Nibelungs, baritone