»Götterdämmerung« (Twilight of the Gods) not only marks the spectacular finale of Richard Wagner’s »Ring« tetralogy. In the opera – in which Valhalla goes up in flames, the hero Siegfried and the Valkyrie Brünnhilde meet their fates and the legendary ring is returned to the Rhine daughters – a very special project also reaches its climax: the »Ring des Nibelungen« in historically informed performance practice.
Under the title »The Wagner Cycles«, former Hamburg General Music Director Kent Nagano and the Dresdner Musikfestspiele under Artistic Director Jan Vogler have been reworking the entire »Ring« since 2023 in the context of the period in which it was written, enveloping it in an authentic soundscape. In addition to reconstructing the historical instruments and their playing techniques, the focus is also on rediscovering the singing and speaking styles of Wagner’s time.
First glimpses of this elaborate undertaking could already be experienced at the Elbphilharmonie with the triumphant performance of »Die Walküre« during the 2024 Hamburg International Music Festival. Now, exactly 150 years after the »Ring« premiered in Bayreuth – and in perfect alignment with this year’s festival theme »End« – the grand finale arrives with »Götterdämmerung«, as Kent Nagano returns to his former musical home in Hamburg.
PERFORMERS
Dresdner Festspielorchester orchestra
Concerto Köln ensemble
Festspielchor der Richard-Wagner-Akademie choir
Young Woo Kim tenor
Johannes Kammler baritone
Daniel Schmutzhard baritone
Patrick Zielke bass
Asa Jäger soprano
Sophia Brommer soprano
Olivia Vermeulen alto
Jasmin Etminan alto
Marie-Luise Dreßen mezzo-soprano
Valentina Farcas soprano
Ania Vegry soprano
Ida Aldrian mezzo-soprano
Eva Vogel alto
Kent Nagano conductor
PROGRAM
Richard Wagner
Götterdämmerung
Concert performance in German with German surtitles
The concert takes place with two intervals.
