La Monnaie Launches 'Der Ring des Nibelungen'

Both artists have an affinity with Wagner. The opera career of Romeo Castellucci - who recently presented us with a poignant staged version of Mozart's Requiem - began at La Monnaie in 2012 with Parsifal, while our Music Director offered the La Monnaie audience remarkable musical experiences with Lohengrin (2017), Tristan und Isolde (2019) and, earlier this season, a Parsifal in concert version. Together, they are the perfect match to bring the music of Wagner's magnum opus to life in all its dramatic effectiveness, and to give full meaning to its universal themes.

The last time this grand opera tetralogy was staged in Brussels was in the 1980s. Gerard Mortier then engaged the Sylvain Cambreling/Herbert Wernicke tandem for Der Ring des Nibelungen. For artistic reasons, Bernard Foccrouille's project with Antonio Pappano and Willy Decker fell through in the 1990s. High time, then, for a new tetralogy tailored to our house and in line with the spirit of the times.

Das Rheingold will premiere in October 2023, Die Walküre will follow in January 2024. Siegfried (September 2024) and Götterdämmerung (January 2025) will be presented in the last season of current General and artistic Director Peter de Caluwe.

"I am eager to bring together two essential pillars of the opera repertoire in my last season at La Monnaie: Richard Wagner and Claudio Monteverdi. Their works are essentially about the quest for the divine in man, and vice versa. The dichotomy between power and love is central to both composers and is a perfect reflection on the spirit of our times. The preservation of the man-made world order continues to take precedence over the place and needs of the individual. For me, the Monteverdi trilogy and the presentation of Wagner's tetralogy - together with the many world creations that we still have in prospect - are a perfect rounding off of what we have realised in Brussels over the past decades. I look forward with excitement to the realisation of these ambitious projects that will continue to keep our house in the international spotlight", says Peter de Caluwe, General and Artistic Director of La Monnaie.