“The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression (Drama) has been made a means.”
— Richard Wagner, Opera and Drama, 1851
When Wagner made that assertion, he was already three years into his creation of Gotterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), the last of the four operas which comprise his monumental cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). He actually composed the libretti for these works in reverse order, ultimately referring to the final three as a “stage festival play” organized over multiple days, preceded by a “preliminary evening.” That “introduction” to the story, Das Rheingold, runs a mere two and a half hours, without an intermission. Yes, Wagner was thinking in grand terms from the outset.
When you consider the scale and scope of The Ring, you can appreciate its extraordinary period of gestation–more than a quarter-century. Wagner populates his texts with gods, heroes, warrior-maidens, giants and a dragon, along with vivid representations of Nature. The narrative plays out over three generations. It begins with the rippling waters of the River Rhine, and it ends with the cataclysmic purification of Heaven and Earth by fire and water. After fifteen-plus hours of high drama, the Rhinemaidens reclaim their golden ring. In the immortal words of singer and satirist Anna Russell, “after sitting through this whole, long, involved affair, for four entire evenings, at those prices…you’re exactly where you came in.”
Wagner’s inspiration for the cycle came from a combination of ancient Greek mythology and mediaeval Norse and Germanic legends and folk tales. The story embraces issues of order, loyalty and vulnerability, along with the composer’s recurring theme of redemption through love and sacrifice.
The score to The Ring dazzles with its inventiveness. Wagner wrote for a notably large orchestra, including the Wagner tuba (a new commission), bass trumpet (a variation of an existing instrument), contrabass bassoon (a revival) and Wagner bell (an upgrade). Let’s not forget the eighteen(!) offstage anvils specified for Das Rheingold.
The innovative nature of the music itself largely rests on the subtlety and richness of its harmonies, as well as the incorporation of leitmotifs–recurring themes, phrases or harmonic progressions associated with a specific character, idea, action or place. They help bind the story together, even when it meanders.
By 1871, Wagner had nearly all of his text and music for The Ring. He still needed an ideal venue. He settled on the Bavarian town of Bayreuth and proceeded to spend the next two years in a largely futile attempt to raise the funding for his new opera house. Enter the “Mad King” (or the “Swan King”), Ludwig II of Bavaria. A sponsor of the composer over the course of two decades, he finally produced the money for the construction of the Festspielhaus. In fact, the monarch had already mandated “special previews” of the first two works in the cycle, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, at the National Theatre in Munich in 1869 and 1870, respectively, much to Wagner’s chagrin. Not surprisingly, he kept the third installment, Siegfried, under wraps for the next half-dozen years.
The world premiere of The Ring as a complete cycle took place at Bayreuth on August 13, 14, 16 and 17, 1876. Wagner hand-picked the singers and players. He served as producer, director, coach, stage manager and prompter. He engaged the renowned Hungarian-born maestro Hans Richter as the conductor. (Richter would later conduct first performances of symphonies by Brahms, Bruckner and Elgar.) He welcomed a bevy of fellow composers as attendees: Tchaikovsky, Gounod, Bruckner, Grieg, Saint-Saëns and his father-in-law, Franz Liszt. The crush of guests and visitors overwhelmed the town’s resources. Tchaikovsky called the experience “a study in survival.”
The dramatic, musical and philosophical aspects of The Ring have consistently seduced opera companies and critics over the past 150 years. George Bernard Shaw, an avid Wagnerite, viewed it as an allegorical indictment of industrialized society. It has also found favor with Jungian psychologists and passionate conservationists. In the current anniversary production at Bayreuth, its artistic team leans heavily into Artificial Intelligence, creating a constantly evolving (and randomly selected) panorama of human history since 1876. For the record, this summer’s audiences there have not been amused by the staging, even while cheering the singing and conducting.
Here in the Northwest, Seattle Opera has established itself as a haven for Wagner lovers by offering three different productions of the tetralogy since 1975. The company presented The Ring on an annual basis for the first two decades, in both German and English, initially dubbing the event its Pacific Northwest Festival.
Tacoma Opera has now risen to the challenge of producing the cycle for the very first time, with one installment per season over a four-year span. You can catch Die Walküre at the Pantages Theatre this coming October 9 and 11.
Richard Wagner wrote that “Imagination creates reality.” As we arrive at the sesquicentennial of The Ring, a work often described as the single greatest achievement in the history of Western art–a work as complex as the man himself–we can recognize a remarkable, even revolutionary, vision that still seems “real” and relevant today.
