The Ring in Basel - Wagner in Switzerland

One of the chief reasons for the enduring appeal of Wagner’s epic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen is the scope it offers interpreters and audiences alike to view the work refracted through the lens of our contemporary experience. Benedikt von Peter says of his new production at the Theater Basel that it ‘examines the effects of Wotan’s patriarchal rule of power on subsequent generations’. Wotan’s Valkryie daughter Brünnhilde, the heroine of the cycle, is thus – and very much in tune with modern approaches to the Ring – right at the centre of this reading, reflecting upon the complex dynamics within her family. This production is not for the traditionalist – time-lines are intriguingly collapsed, enabling us to see the effects of the ring’s curse on successive generations and there are one or two other dramaturgical surprises, including a moving deployment of puppetry. 

The English conductor Jonathan Nott, who has carved a stellar reputation largely outside Britain, has assembled a strong cast including the exciting young Danish soprano Trine Møller as Brünnhilde and the acclaimed Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg as Wotan. Taking the roles of the sibling lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde are Ric Furman and Therese Kronthaler who both made highly praised contributions in last year’s Die Walküre.

Basel is renowned as one of the great cultural cities of Europe, with its Kunstmuseum (housing the largest art collection in Switzerland) and the Foundation Beyeler, specialising in contemporary art, its idyllic parkland setting close to the foothills of the Black Forest housing the elegantly designed building of Renzo Piano. We will also visit two cities closely associated with Wagner himself. It was during his decade-long exile in Zurich that Wagner wrote the libretto for the entire Ring and the music of the greater part of it. His later years in Lucerne, to which he moved with his second wife, Cosima, were the happiest in his life. We visit his newly restored lakeside house at Tribschen, just outside the city, and will be expertly guided both in Lucerne and in Zurich by Professor Chris Walton, the leading authority on Wagner’s close relationship with Switzerland.