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LA Opera Presents Company Premiere of Richard Wagner's
Final Chapter of the Four-Part Ring Cycle stars Saturday, April 3 through Sunday, April 25, 2010 Only Five Performances Prior to Three Complete Ring Cycles in May/June 2010 (Los Angeles, CA) March 3, 2010 - LA Opera's new production of Richard Wagner's four-part Der Ring des Nibelungen continues with the Company premiere of Götterdämmerung, the fourth and final opera in the Ring cycle, opening on Saturday, April 3 at 1:00pm. "Our productions of the first three Ring operas were greeted with extraordinary praise for their musical and theatrical brilliance, and I am confident that our audiences will be equally thrilled by our Ring's epic conclusion," said Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director. "These performances of Götterdämmerung will soon be followed by our late spring performances of the first complete Ring cycles ever presented in Los Angeles, and I am filled with pride as we near this impressive milestone." James Conlon, the Company's Richard Seaver Music Director, will conduct. The new production is directed and designed by the celebrated theater artist Achim Freyer, with costumes designed by Achim Freyer and Amanda Freyer, and lighting designed by Achim Freyer and Brian Gale. The Associate Conductor / Chorus Master is Grant Gershon. Götterdämmerung will run for a total of five performances from April 3 through 25, 2010. All performances will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA, 90012. Tickets to Götterdämmerung range from $20 to $260, and are on sale at the LA Opera Box Office, by phone at (213) 972-8001 or online at www.laopera.com. LA Opera's new production of Götterdämmerung is headed by soprano Linda Watson as Brünnhilde and tenor John Treleaven as Siegfried. Bass Eric Halfvarson will sing the role of Hagen. Making their Company debuts will be bass-baritone Alan Held as Gunther, baritone Richard Paul Fink as Alberich and soprano Jennifer Wilson as Gutrune. Mezzo-soprano Jill Grove will sing the role of the First Norn, with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as the Second Norn and soprano Melissa Citro as the Third Norn; Ms. DeYoung will also perform the role of Waltraute. The three Rhinemaidens will be performed by soprano Stacey Tappan as Woglinde, mezzo-soprano Lauren McNeese as Wellgunde and mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller, a member of LA Opera's Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program, as Flosshilde. The curse of the ring runs its course in the final chapter of Wagner's epic music drama, which begins with the rapturous love shared by Brünnhilde and Siegfried. But the evil Hagen, desperate to win their magical ring, plots against Siegfried and ultimately murders him. Making the ultimate sacrifice, Brünnhilde heroically cleanses the ring of its curse, and the reign of the gods comes to an end in a spectacular finale unparalleled in opera. Musical highlights include the tragic grandeur of "Siegfried's Funeral March" and the apocalyptic "Immolation Scene." This celebration of the human spirit soars to heights of heroism and proclaims the redemptive power of love. Director and designer Achim Freyer has long been regarded as one of the most important figures in European theater, opera and the visual arts, celebrated for his provocative and often boldly abstract stage images. His work has been hailed as vividly theatrical, exhilaratingly irreverent and meticulously prepared. He made his U.S. debut at LA Opera in 2002 with his production of Bach's Mass in B-minor, and he returned in 2003 to stage the Company's widely acclaimed new production of La Damnation de Faust. In 1992, he founded the Freyer Ensemble. Working together, he and the group have developed a unique theater language and created more than twenty different pieces for the theater. His work in opera has taken him to cities throughout Europe, including Munich, Basel, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris and Salzburg. In 1982 he directed Die Zauberflöte in Hamburg, a production that has successfully gone down in theater history and still plays to sold-out houses. LA Opera's April production of Götterdämmerung precedes the Company's performances of three Ring complete cycles from May 29 through June 26, 2010, when Götterdämmerung will return in sequence with the Company's previously seen productions of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried. These will be the first complete performances of Richard Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen ever presented in Los Angeles. One of the most ambitious theatrical works ever created, the Ring cycle tells a unified story drawn from Norse mythology over the course of four complete operas. The plot concerns an epic struggle to win control of a magic ring that gives its bearer the power to rule the world. Created by the evil dwarf Alberich, the ring is successively possessed by Wotan, the king of the gods, then by the dragon Fafner, and eventually by Wotan's grandson, Siegfried. Ultimately, the ring comes into the possession of Brünnhilde, who returns the ring to its source, thus ending the reign of the gods. Conceived as a festival event, it is the biggest work in the history of Western music, developed over the course of 28 years, from its conception in 1848 to the first performances of the completed cycle in 1876. The comparative rarity of Ring stagings and the work's overwhelming musical and dramatic impact regularly inspire thousands of opera lovers to travel around the world to experience different productions, with significant impact on a city's cultural and economic life. LA Opera has joined forces with more than 115 cultural and educational institutions throughout the county to stage Ring Festival LA, presenting a wide variety of special exhibitions, performances, symposia and special events all centered on LA Opera's upcoming presentation of Wagner's Ring cycle. Events will take place in a wide variety of venues throughout Southern California, with each organization providing its own unique point of view on the influences of Wagner's art and philosophy from the 19th century to the present day. Ring Festival LA will take place from April 15 through June 30, 2010. For information on festival events, please visit www.RingFestivalLA.com. Götterdämmerung opens on Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 1pm with subsequent performances on Sunday, April 11 at 1pm; Saturday, April 17 at 1pm; Wednesday, April 21 at 5:30pm; and Sunday, April 25 at 1pm. Performances will be held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Tickets to Götterdämmerung range from $20 to $260, and are on sale at the LA Opera Box Office, by phone at (213) 972-8001 or online at www.laopera.com. For disability access, call (213) 972-0777 or e-mail wehelpyou@laopera.com.
LA Opera's new production of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle made possible by
With additional support from
Generous underwriting support for Götterdämmerung from
Artist headshots and production photos can be found on the LA Opera Press Gallery:
Artist biographies, synopsis and background information can be found on the LA Opera website:
All programs, artists and dates are subject to change. This is an LA Opera original production.
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