Das Rheingold’s opening night on 17 November 2018 at Gothenburg Opera combined the skills of three Rayfield Allied artists. Stage director Stephen Langridge and designer Alison Chitty have created a powerful, environmentally-sustainable new production. Olafur Sigurdarson gives a “bravura” performance as Alberich.
"Incredibly gripping" — SR Cultural News
"Fascinating modern Wagner" — Borås Tidning
"High-class" — Expressen/GT
"You should go to Gothenburg to experience it"— SVT (Swedish Television) Cultural News
"Musically brilliant"— Svenska Dagbladet
Das Rheingold continues Alison Chitty and Stephen Langridge’s successful collaboration, with previous highlights including Wagner's Parsifal and Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur, both at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Handel's Theodora at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Together they will complete the Ring Cycle in Gothenburg over the next three seasons and will also return to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées for a new production in 2020.
Sustainability was at the core of Langridge’s production and Chitty’s designs. You can hear them talking in detail about the ideas behind this as part of a wider round-table discussion by clicking here.
“What strikes me most about Mr Langridge’s interpretation is this connection between humanity and nature, and how violence pervades within it... Wotan and Loge’s confrontation with Alberich and their cunning manipulation of him was a high point.” - Niklas Smith, Seen and Heard International
“Stephen Langridge has been very successful in portraying a clear storyline with strong changes of atmosphere between scenes. ... Yes, I very much hope to see the next parts of this cycle.” - Lennart Bromander, Aftonbladet
“The introduction, where the river Rhine is shaped by an apparently endless stream of people in shining blue fabrics, is a powerful image of the flow of human life and change, or in other words, the infinite stream that we all are a part of. It is really moving." - Mia Gerdin, Sveriges Radio
“The opening image is beautiful” - Sofia Nyblom, Svenska Dagbladet
Olafur Sigurdarson has previously triumphed as Alberich Das Rheingold, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in Darmstadt. His season began with the title role in Der fliegende Holländer in Helsinki, where he returns to make his role debut in the title role of Wozzeck.
For his performance in Das Rheingold he has received outstanding reviews:
“The most impressive voice in the whole team is Olafur Sigurdarson's Alberich...” – Kultur, Lars Sjöberg
“Alberich is dramatically shaped by Icelandic Olafur Sigurdarson.” – Aftonbladet
“They have a cast of both vocal and artistic magnificence in Alberich, sung by Icelandic Olafur Sigurdarson.” – SVT News, Ella Petersson
“The set is full of powerful vocal efforts, for example, Alberich … played with bravura by Icelandic Olafur Sigurdason” – Sveriges Radio, Mia Gerdin
To find out more information about the production, click here. Performances run until 7 December 2018.
Photography: Mats Bäcker
