Celebrating Wagner's "Gesamtkunstwerk" in San Francisco...
San Francisco Opera Presents Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)
Three complete cycles
each presented in their entirety over the course of one week take place June
14-19, June 21-26, and June 28-July 3, 2011.
In June-July 2011 San Francisco Opera will present three complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner’s epic four-opera cycle widely considered one of the greatest works ever conceived for the operatic stage. The four operas in this new production by San Francisco Opera Artistic Adviser and internationally celebrated director Francesca Zambello—Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung—will be presented in San Francisco for the first time as a complete cycle.
Maestro Donald Runnicles, one of the world’s most acclaimed Wagner conductors and former San Francisco Opera music director, will lead the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in these performances that feature an international roster of singers, including Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde), Mark Delavan (Wotan), Stefan Margita (Loge), Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried, Siegfried), Ian Storey (Siegfried, Götterdämmerung), Gordon Hawkins (Alberich), Elizabeth Bishop (Fricka), David Cangelosi (Mime), Anja Kampe (Sieglinde) and Brandon Jovanovich (Siegmund and Froh).
Three complete cycles will be presented each in their entirety over the course of one week as the composer originally intended. These cycles each begin on a Tuesday evening and conclude on a Sunday afternoon. They will take place June 14-19, June 21-26, and June 28-July 3, 2011. All performances are presented at the historic Beaux Arts style War Memorial Opera House. Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried are co-productions with Washington National Opera; Götterdämmerung is a new San Francisco Opera production which premiered on June 5, 2011. Siegfried premiered on May 29.
An internationally renowned cast featuring some of today's great Wagnerian singers has been assembled for this highly anticipated new production. Swedish soprano and Wagner specialist Nina Stemme sings Brünnhilde in her complete Ring cycle role debut after making her role debut in San Francisco Opera's Die Walküre last June 2010; she previously performed the Brünnhilde of Siegfried at the Vienna State Opera in 2008.
Baritone Mark Delavan returns to sing his complete Ring cycle debut as Wotan after his triumphant role debut with the Company in 2008’s Das Rheingold and 2010’s Die Walküre. Tenor Jay Hunter Morris makes his role debut as Siegfried in Siegfried and Ian Storey makes his Company debut and his role debut as Siegfried in Götterdämmerung. Gordon Hawkins also makes his Company debut as Alberich, a role he sang to great acclaim at Washington National Opera. American mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Bishop appears as Fricka and David Cangelosi returns as Mime. Soprano Anja Kampe sings Sieglinde, which she also sang in Die Walküre at Washington National Opera, and American tenor Brandon Jovanovich makes his role debut as Siegmund and also appears as Froh. Former Adler Fellow Heidi Melton will sing Sieglinde on the June 29 performance of Die Walküre as well as the Third Norn in Götterdämmerung.
Stefan Margita returns to the Company as Loge following his critically acclaimed performances of the rolein 2008’s Das Rheingold. German bass-baritone Gerd Grochowski appears as Gunther and Andrea Silvestrelli returns to San Francisco Opera as Fasolt and will also sing the role of Hagen. Merola Opera Program alumni Ronnita Miller (Erda and the First Norn) and Melissa Citro (Freia, Ortlinde and Gutrune) make their Company debuts. Former Adler Fellow and Merola alumnus Daniel Sumegi sings Fafner and Hunding, and 2009 Adler Fellow Daveda Karanas sings Waltraute as well as the Second Norn.
Director Francesca Zambello and set designer Michael Yeargan use imagery
from various eras of American history to illuminate Wagner’s legend
in which human virtue and nature’s sanctuary fall prey to greed and
lust. The talented creative team also includes costume designer Catherine
Zuber, lighting designer Mark McCullough, projection designer Jan Hartley,
and choreographer Lawrence Pech.
San Francisco Opera has long been regarded as one of the world’s leading
companies to present the entire Ring cycle, with past acclaimed presentations
at the War Memorial Opera House in 1935, 1972, 1985, 1990 and 1999. The Company
presented a partial Ring cycle in 1936, omitting Siegfried. The City of San
Francisco played host to two other presentations of the Ring in 1900 by the
Metropolitan Opera at the Grand Opera House, led by famed conductor Walter
Damrosch, and a partial Ring cycle in 1931 (omitting Das Rheingold) by the
Grand German Opera Company in Civic Auditorium.
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