The Wagner Cycles

When Richard Wagner opened the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876 with his *Ring*, music history was made.

In 2026, this event will celebrate its 150th anniversary – an occasion for a unique production of the tetralogy from a historically informed perspective. Under the overall artistic direction of Kent Nagano, Honorary Conductor of the Concerto Köln, and Jan Vogler, the ‘Ring’ will be reworked from 2023 to 2026 in the context of the period in which it was composed and based on the latest findings in Wagner and performance practice research. Alongside the painstaking reconstruction of historical instruments and their playing techniques, the project also focuses on rediscovering the singing and recitative styles of Wagner’s era.

The project ‘The Wagner Cycles’ builds on various initiatives aimed at shedding light on Wagner’s music through historical performance practice – foremost among them the ‘Wagner-Lesarten’, launched in 2018 by Concerto Köln, Kent Nagano and the Kunststiftung NRW. With the project’s relocation to Dresden – the city where Wagner spent his formative childhood and youth, the venue for the world premieres of three of his operas, and the starting point for the conceptual history of the ‘Ring’ – groundbreaking impetus is expected in the development and realisation of this performance workshop. The official launch was the performance of Richard Wagner’s *Das Rheingold* on 14 June 2023 at the Kulturpalast in Dresden.

What began in 2023 with the concert performance of *Das Rheingold*, continued in 2024 with *Die Walküre* and is now being carried forward with the production of *Siegfried*, can be regarded as setting new standards for the interpretation of Wagner’s works. The ‘The Wagner Cycles’ project is dedicated to Richard Wagner’s monumental opera tetralogy through a unique fusion of scholarship and practice. Both in Dresden and on tours through Europe’s musical centres, the result of this spectacular sound workshop and the historically informed approach to Wagner’s epoch-making musical theatre work have been hailed as revolutionary. In the third part of the ‘Ring’, ‘Siegfried’, images of nature and the vivid portrayal of plot elements reveal Wagner at the height of his ability to express himself through sound painting. The newly achieved transparent orchestral sound and the focus on the singers’ vocal interpretation will continue to provide novel listening experiences in 2025.

All dates and further information can be found in our concert calendar and on the project website.