The Met Celebrates Wagner's Bicentennial With Three Complete Cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen in May

The Metropolitan Opera will commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Richard Wagner's birth with three complete performances of his epic four-opera masterwork, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The Ring cycles will begin April 6 at 1 p.m. with Das Rheingold and continue through the last day of the Met season, May 11, with an 11 a.m. matinee of Götterdämmerung. Met Principal ConductorFabio Luisi returns to lead all three cycles. Among the returning and new Wagnerian stars in leading roles are Deborah Voigt and Katarina Dalayman as the warrior maiden Brünnhilde; Mark Delavan and Greer Grimsley as Wotan, king of the gods; Jay Hunter Morris and Lars Cleveman in his Met debut as the fearless hero Siegfried; Martina Serafin in her Met debut as Sieglinde and Simon O'Neill as her twin, the mysterious warrior Siegmund; Meredith Arwady as the ancient Earth goddess Erda; Stephanie Blythe as Fricka, the formidable queen of the gods;Eric Owens and Richard Paul Fink as the cursed dwarf Alberich; Wendy Bryn Harmer as the love goddess Freia, the Valkyrie Ortlinde, and the princess Gutrune; Karen Cargill as Brünnhilde's sister, Waltraute; Stefan Margita as the trickster god Loge; Gerhard Siegel and Robert Brubakeras the dwarf Mime; Iain Paterson as the treacherous king Gunther; Hans-Peter König in three villainous roles, Fafner, Hunding, and Hagen; andFranz-Josef Selig as the giant Fasolt.

Fabio Luisi, who was named the Met's Principal Conductor in September 2011, conducted the new production premieres of Siegfried andGötterdämmerung and returned last season to conduct the first complete cycles of the Lepage staging. Earlier this season, he conducted the new production premiere of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera and revivals of Berlioz's Les Troyens and Verdi's Aida.

Lepage made his Met debut in 2008 with Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust and returned earlier this season to direct the Met premiere of Thomas Adès's The Tempest. His production of the Ring, which features set design by Carl Fillion, costume design by François St-Aubin, lighting design by Étienne Boucher, and video design by Boris Firquet (Das Rheingold and Die Walküre), Pedro Pires (Siegfried), and Lionel Arnould(Götterdämmerung), premiered on opening night of the 2010-11 season with Das Rheingold. The subsequent installments of the tetralogy followed in April 2011 (Die Walküre), October 2011 (Siegfried), and January 2012 (Götterdämmerung), with the first complete cycles in April and May of 2012.

The innovative scenic design for Lepage's Ring consists of 24 moving fiberglass-covered aluminum planks, which rotate on a mobile steel axis to create the various otherworldly scenes described in Wagner's libretto. Interactive video projections, cued by live sound and movement, help to create many important visual elements of the four operas, including the bottom of the Rhine river, the rainbow bridge to Valhalla, a wintry forest, the Valkyries riding horses through the sky, and a rocky mountaintop encircled by a ring of fire.

Deborah Voigt made her role debut as Brünnhilde in the new production premiere of Lepage's staging. She has sung more than 230 performances at the Met, including many Wagner roles: Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer, Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, and Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. Earlier this year, she sang Cassandra in Berlioz's Les Troyens. Next season, she makes her role debut as Marie in Berg's Wozzeck at the Met.

Katarina Dalayman sang Brünnhilde at the Met in the 2008-09 and 2011-12 seasons. She has also sung the role with the Bavarian State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, and Royal Opera, Stockholm. She made her Met debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde in 1999. Her other Met roles have included Isolde, Sieglinde, and Marie in Wozzeck. She made her company role debut as Kundry in the new production premiere of Wagner's Parsifal earlier this season.

Mark Delavan has sung Wotan with Deutsche Oper Berlin and San Francisco Opera. He made his Met debut as Amonasro in Verdi's Aida in 2001 and has sung 10 additional roles with the company, including Carlo Gérard in Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Don Carlo in Verdi's La Forza del Destino, Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, Tomsky in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, and the title roles in Verdi's Nabucco and Simon Boccanegra. Earlier this season, he sang Gianciotto in a rare revival of Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini.

Greer Grimsley has sung Wotan at Seattle Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Cologne Opera, and Teatro la Fenice in Venice. He has sung six roles at the Met, including Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, Telramund in Lohengrin, Jochanaan in Strauss's Salome, Scarpia in Tosca, and Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen.

Jay Hunter Morris made an acclaimed Met role debut in 2011, substituting at short notice as the title character in the new production premiere of Siegfried. Later that season, he returned to sing the role in the Götterdämmerung premiere and two complete Ring cycles. He made his Met debut in 2007 as Števa in Janá?ek's Jen?fa. He has also sung Siegfried with San Francisco Opera.

Swedish tenor Lars Cleveman makes his Met debut as Siegfried, a role he has also sung with the Royal Opera, Stockholm and Latvian National Opera. His other recent performances include the title role in Tannhäuser at Bayreuth in 2011 and 2012 and Tristan in Tristan und Isolde at Sweden's Gothenburg Opera and the Royal Opera, Stockholm.

Austrian soprano Martina Serafin makes her Met debut as Sieglinde. She has previously sung the role with Zurich Opera and Paris Opera. In recent seasons, she has sung the title role in Tosca at La Scala, Paris Opera, the Arena di Verona, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the Marschallin in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier at Bavarian State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera; and the title role in Puccini's Turandot at Zurich Opera. Next season, she returns to the Met for her company role debut as the Marschallin.

Stephanie Blythe sang Fricka in the new production premiere of Lepage's Ring staging and has also performed the role with Seattle Opera. A graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, she has sung 27 roles with the company since her 1995 debut as the offstage voice in Parsifal, including Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Eduige in the Met premiere of Handel's Rodelinda, Amneris in Verdi's Aida, and the three principal mezzo-soprano roles in Puccini's Il Trittico. Earlier this season, she sang Ulrica in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera and Azucena in his Il Trovatore. Next season, she sings Mistress Quickly in a new production of Verdi's Falstaff.

Meredith Arwady, a winner of the Met's 2004 National Council Auditions, makes her company role debut as Erda-a role she sang at Frankfurt Opera in 2010, 2012, and 2013. She made her Met debut in 2008 as Pasqualita in John Adams's Doctor Atomic and returned in 2010 to sing the Marquise of Berkenfield in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment.

Simon O'Neill sang his first Met performance as Siegmund in 2008. He has also sung the role at La Scala, Berlin State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He made his Met debut in 2006 as the High Priest in Mozart's Idomeneo and will return next season as the Drum Major in Wozzeck.

Eric Owens made a critically acclaimed role debut as Alberich in the premiere of Lepage's Ring production. He made his Met debut in 2008 as General Leslie Groves in the Met premiere of Doctor Atomic. Next season, hesings Alberich at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Sarastro in the Met's abridged, English-language production of Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Hans-Peter König sang Fafner, Hunding, and Hagen in the premieres of Lepage's staging. He has sung Fafner and Hagen at Bayreuth; Hagen at Paris Opera; Hagen and Hunding at Dusseldorf Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Stockholm; and all three roles at Dresden State Opera. His previous roles with the Met include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer.

Der Ring des Nibelungen Radio Broadcasts

All four operas will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Radio network, according to this schedule: April 6 at 1 p.m., Das Rheingold; April 13 at 11 a.m., Die Walküre; April 20 at 11 a.m., Siegfried; and May 11 at 11 a.m., Götterdämmerung.

In addition to these four performances, three additional performances will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74: Götterdämmerung on April 23 at 6 p.m.; Siegfried on April 29 at 6 p.m.; and Die Walküre on May 6 at 6:30 p.m.