Wagner’s epic tale of gods behaving badly, heroes and giants, dragons and dwarves, and the ubiquitous magical ring, is central to German mythology and has been emulated many times across a range of cultures. First created for Wagner’s Festival Theatre in Bayreuth, Der Ring des Nibelungen, universally known as the Ring Cycle, has an international following from music lovers across the globe and still draws crowds wherever it is staged.
Australia has seen only five fully-staged Ring Cycles to date – two in Adelaide by State Opera of South Australia, two in Melbourne by OA and, most recently, Melbourne Opera’s staging of three cycles in Bendigo earlier this year. OA in conjunction with QPAC will present three separate cycles of the Ring, the first time that it has been staged in Brisbane.
