This week I’ve thrown myself into Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at Staatsoper Berlin – four pieces, one mythic universe, and a journey that stretches across seven days.
My plan is simple: to share a few short reflections after each performance. A running diary through the madness of gods, giants, and gold.
The ride kicked off tonight with Das Rheingold, tomorrow gallops in Die Walküre, then we catch our breath before Siegfried storms the stage on Wednesday, and finally, the world goes up in flames with Götterdämmerung on Friday.
It’s a fitting time for this adventure: next year marks 150 years since the Ring’s very first full performance — staged, naturally, in Bayreuth, the temple Wagner built specifically to house his monster of a work.
Never seen the Ring? Don’t worry, here’s a quick recap:
The Ring of the Nibelungen (commonly just “the Ring”) is about some gold that gets stolen, forged into a ring, and then everyone wants it.
In Das Rheingold (“Gold of the Rhein” – makes sense, since that’s where the gold chills before someone comes along to nick it.), Wotan has promised the goddess Freia as payment to the giants for building Valhalla. But he changes his mind – so he steals the gold instead, to buy his way out of the deal.
The Concept:
Welcome to the research institute E.S.C.H.E. – that’s short for Experimental Scientific Centre for Human Evolution. Sounds fancy, right? In German, it actually means “ash,” which yeah makes sense later on… Wotan is the top dog, the big boss man in charge of the experiments. The gods aren’t divine but scientists and the humans are the poor guinea pigs. In the opening, Alberich is strapped to a chair with wires everywhere.
The gold gets a 21st-century upgrade and shows up as shiny modern technology. When Albericht snaps, he grabs some techy gear and runs off with it, setting the stage for the chaos to come.
And then there’s the ring… but no spear. So when everyone keeps rambling on about Wotan’s mighty weapon, it’s kind of like, “Wait, what weapon?” – nothing is actually there to back it up. Or am I missing some hidden meaning?
Here, power doesn’t sparkle with sorcery – it crawls through contracts, experiments, and bureaucracy. The Russian director Tcherniakov has slammed the door on supernatural props, and while it doesn’t exactly feel like your typical workplace, elements like the technology brings it into our time.
Even though it’s my second time seeing this production, I’m still not entirely sure what Tcherniakov is trying to say – what’s the big idea? The stage keeps you on your toes: multiple floors and rooms unfold before you: a lecture hall, a stress-test chamber for poor Alberich, offices, labs with caged animals (real rabbits at the premiere, though they didn’t last long, so now it’s all teddybears), an elevator doubling as a portal to other scenes, a glass-box office as Nibelheim, and a room with a tree (the tree of life?) planted dead center – is it inside the institute? Outside? Or floating somewhere in the strange space between myth and reality?
There’s more than enough to keep your eyes busy. The whole set moves up, down, and sideways. One of the coolest tricks is the transition from Scene 1 to Scene 2: Wotan and Loge step into an elevator, but instead of them going down, the rooms around them gues up! Suddenly the two spaces we’re looking at rise, giving us a peek under the gods’ kingdom.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
And then there are the little theatrical flourishes: Donner pulling a spark from his sleeve, Froh turning a flower into a colourful scarf – their version of the rainbow bridge, Bifröst, leading the way to Valhalla, I guess.
The Music
Michael Volle as Wotan is just brimming with energy. His voice is huge, and he nails the acting too – especially in those funny little moments, like when he’s told he has to steal the gold and makes that over-the-top surprised face, or when Alberich is supposed to transform into a worm. In this production, that transformation happens only in Alberich’s head, and the others just pretend – Wotan refuses to play along, which is delightfully silly and gives off a very teenage-like vibe that Volle sells with charm.
Anna Kissjudit as Erda just walks in and owns the stage. Sebastian Kohlhepp as Loge is a solid actor and his singing isn’t bad, but his voice didn’t quite do it for me – a bit too close, too tight for my taste.
The Rhinemaidens were especially great in the final scene, with a brilliant balance between both the trio and the orchestra. And Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Alberich? He has a strong, clear, and compelling voice, and his take on Alberich feels more ‘down-to-earth’ — less like some half-gross dwarf. Most of the weirdness seems to be happening just inside his head anyway.
As for GMD Christian Thielemann, he starts the orchestra at a luxury sound level (notated piano in the score). Full of colour and texture, never forced. Unfortunately, the horns were a tiny bit off at the start. In general the orchestra wasn’t firing on all cylinders today compared to their pretty high standards.
Thielemann builds the tension beautifully, like tasting a complex dish and having to wait before you can swallow. The excitement rises, and then boom — moments of pure release. I get the sense he’s holding something back today. It was only opening night; if we’ve only had the ‘appetizer,’ the remaining three nights are bound to conjure some serious magic. It also gives me the impression that he has the entire shape of the Ring in his head, and we’re (of course) meant to experience it as a journey — which makes it even more thrilling to see what he’ll bring in the next three evenings!
And just like that, we’re rolling.
Looking forward to what tomorrow will show — my gut tells me someone’s gotta go…
Next stop: Die Walküre! Hojotohooo.
Fun fact: Rheingold is the Ring-part with the biggest cast – 14 soloists are needed to make the mythic madness unfold.
Trailer:
Cast:
- Conductor: Christian Thielemann
- Director and Stage Designer: Dmitri Tcherniakov
- Costume Designer: Elena Zaytseva
- Light: Gleb Filshtinsky
- Video: Alexey Poluboyarinov
- Wotan: Michael Volle
- Donner: Roman Trekel
- Froh: Siyabonga Maqungo
- Loge: Sebastian Kohlhepp
- Alberich: Jochen Schmeckenbecher
- Mime: Stephan Rügamer
- Fasolt: Mika Kares
- Fafner: Peter Rose
- Fricka: Claudia Mahnke
- Freia: Sonja Herranen
- Erda: Anna Kissjudit
- Woglinde: Evelin Novak
- Wellgunde: Natalia Skrycka
- Floßhilde: Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein
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