Starting 8:00 AM on Victoria Day, Monday May 21 2007, CBC Radio 2 broadcasted Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle in its entirety. The cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, comprises four operas: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). Host Bill Richardson was the guide for the day through Wagner's fantastic and stunning creation.
There’s nothing in music quite like Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. The length – four hefty operas – is grand. The characters include gods and mortals, giants and dwarves, valkyries and other mythological creatures. The story itself is cosmic; it embraces love, power, incest, murder and the end of the world. Wagner scores The Ring with Freudian ingenuity and a new sound in the orchestra, a new style of singing, and a whole new stage presence.
Why do opera companies consider Der Ring des Nibelungen to be a grand cause for celebration? Because in music there is simply nothing like it.
