Where to Watch Wagner: Das Rheingold in Australia

Eighteen years ago, the first complete direction of Richard Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen in the Netherlands took place. It was then a highly regarded and rewarded project by the Libanese director Pierre Audi - and his stage designer George Tsypin - for the Netherlands Opera House (Nederlanse Opera) in Amsterdam. The direction relies on the concept of bringing the story close to the audience.The cast is well selected for this last cycle. Johannes Thomas Mayer is an aristrocratic insecure Godfather, powerfully enlightened by Marina Prudenskaja as Erda, or accompanied by his scary wife Fricka, sung by Doris Soffel. It is Stefan Margita who brings alive the devious Loge, who gets a dominant exposure to move the fate of the Gods. We feel the same enthousiasm for Hartmut Haenchen's conducting : his work is fine well figurated and balanced.