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UNCOVERED: Wotan | History Defined

Ring Cycle review – AI staging dispenses with drama to create banal bric-a-brac

For the festival’s 150th anniversary, the creative team have turned to AI to generate visuals reflecting Wagner’s tetralogy’s past, present – and future. The hyperactive result is a dismal, mindless mess

The Guardian - UK

How a young Alabama man has become a leading — and booming — opera voice

Nicholas Brownlee has risen to the top of the opera world with his powerful bass-baritone voice

The Independent UK

Das Rheingold review – a sure-footed feast as Alberich descends into madness

With its aquatic opening, magic tricks and grand procession across a rainbow bridge, Charlie Edwards’s production manages to remain clear-sighted despite modest budgets

The Guardian - UK

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Fabio Luisi and Dallas strip Wagner's Ring Cycle of staging and issue audio recording

Fabio Luisi wanted his Ring Cycle to be heard, not seen

The Independent UK

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen album review – Luisi has a keen sense of the operatic architecture

Captured live in concert performances, Fabio Luisi’s clear-sighted command and strong orchestral playing make this Wagner set frequently impressive, with Mark Delavan an authorative Wotan

The Guardian - UK

Siegfried review – invigorating and mesmerising staging, with Schager outstanding as Wagner’s hero

The third opera of Barrie Kosky’s Ring cycle again places the naked ancient earth goddess centre stage in a thoughtful and deft production that boasts an excellent cast and orchestral playing that captures the score’s complex colours

The Guardian - UK

Sir Donald McIntyre obituary

Operatic bass-baritone known for his commanding stage presence and exceptional abilities as a singer-actor

The Guardian - UK

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Ryan Speedo Green triumphs in first outing as Wagner’s god in 'Die Walküre'

Ryan Speedo Green has taken on the challenging role of Wotan in Wagner’s “Die Walküre” at the Santa Fe Opera House

The Independent UK

Natalya Romaniw on Wagner’s Die Walküre: 'It's not just balls to the wall!'

Soprano Natalya Romaniw tells us about the challenge of taking on Wagner’s epic at the Royal Opera House

Evening Standard

The week in classical: Festen; Das Rheingold review – a dark, jubilant, five-star Turnage triumph

Daring, lyrical and brilliantly achieved, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new opera is his best work yet. Plus, knockout Wagner on a shoestring

The Guardian - UK

Groping, greed and the lust for great power: what Wagner’s Ring Cycle tells us about Trump v Harris

US politics may lack swords and spears, dragons and talking birds, but Wagner’s tale of money, power, rivalry and grudges still carries striking parallels with the US elections

The Guardian - UK

No gimmicks, no clutter: Zürich Opera’s is a Ring cycle to cherish

Andreas Homoki’s detailed staging focuses on compelling and clear storytelling, and, with Gianandrea Noseda bringing energy and directness to Wagner’s music, this is a fresh and intelligent new cycle

The Guardian - UK

Keel Watson obituary

Versatile opera singer who could move effortlessly between Wagner and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

The Guardian - UK

Das Rheingold review – uncluttered staging is a compelling start to Kosky’s Ring cycle

With the figure of earth goddess Erda present throughout, the message – of the despoliation of the natural world – is clear. There’s no weak link in a uniformly strong cast, and in the pit Pappano has the measure of Wagner’s grandeur and intimacy

The Guardian - UK

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The Conversation

Why Old Norse myths endure in popular culture

From Wagner to William Morris in the late 19th century, via Tolkien’s dwarves and CS Lewis’s The Last Battle, through to last year’s controversial film The Northman, Scandinavian gods and heroes have been central to the stories we tell ourselves.

Evening Standard

Brünnhilde’s Dream/Counterpoise at the Wigmore Hall review: an imaginative recasting of Wagner’s heroine

Using barely any of the composer’s music, this collage of 19th and 20th century songs shed new light on the iconic character

Evening Standard

Brünnhilde’s Dream: how our new show turned Wagner’s heroine from icon to everywoman

Wotan’s daughter isn’t the most obvious person to speak for the sisterhood, but this new music production gives her a new voice

The Guardian - UK

Das Rheingold review – Regents Opera’s lean and mean Wagner packs a punch

Ben Woodward’s chamber arrangement of Wagner’s score works well and, if the storytelling feels unclear at points, players and singers alike ensure a vivid experience

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The Guardian - UK

The Ring Cycle review – ideas-free patchwork staging signals Bayreuth’s fading authority

Valentin Schwarz’s new staging of Wagner’s epic has some thought-provoking moments, but few were sustainable and most were just distracting

The Guardian - UK

Boris Johnson isn’t finished. His next move in politics may be even more alarming

Once out of office, the former PM could emulate US media shock-makers, wielding influence without accountability, says Guardian associate editor Martin Kettle

The Guardian - UK

Siegfried review – heft and heroics as Longborough again proves its Wagner chops

With a strong cast including Bradley Daley, Paul Carey Jones’s Wotan and Julieth Lozano’s delightful Woodbird, any weaknesses in the staging were more than compensated for

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