The Schwarz Ring: Siegfried (Bayreuth, 2022)

This new production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival was the opera event of the 2022 festival season. Young director Valentin Schwarz reimagines the mythical story in the present day and tells a gripping family saga in the world of the rich and powerful. The musical direction is in the hands of Cornelius Meister. In Siegfried, Schwarz underlines the tragicomic elements in the relationship between the title hero and his foster father, Mime. The production also finds original and novel images for Siegfried's encounter with the dragon and Brünnhilde's liberation from the circle of fire. As Siegfried, Andreas Schager makes light of the role's legendary challenges.