Two additional performances of our new production of Die Walküre (12 July, conducted by Harry Sever; 14 July conducted by Anthony Negus) will open for booking in early 2024, alongside Puccini’s La bohème.
Priority booking for Die Walküre will be open to Wagner members who have not used their allocation on the Ring cycle. Priority booking for La bohème will be open to all members. See booking dates at lfo.org.uk/tickets
Götterdämmerung is the epic conclusion to the Ring cycle: power struggles, betrayals, and the downfall of gods, heroes, and the world itself.
All productions in the cycle are created especially for Longborough by Amy Lane, Artistic Director of Copenhagen Opera Festival, and Longborough Music Director and eminent Wagnerian Anthony Negus.
Don't miss Between the Ring, our standalone series of exciting events designed to fit around the three cycles. These include talks with John Deathridge, Dr Genevieve Arkle and Sir David Pountney; masterclasses and performances with Sir John Tomlinson, Rachel Nicholls and Susan Bullock CBE; and Simon Callow with his incredible one-man show "Inside Wagner's Head".
You don’t need a ticket to the Ring to book for these events.
Coming by train?
Hop aboard the Hedgehog!
In partnership with brilliant local bus service the Hedgehog, we’re now offering a shuttle service from Moreton-in-Marsh station to our theatre.
The service will depart from Moreton-in-Marsh 90 minutes before the performance start time, to arrive at Longborough shortly after the grounds open. It will return to Moreton following the performance end time.
Der Ring des Nibelungen (known as the Ring cycle) is a story of gods, giants and heroes, and their struggles for power. Wagner’s cycle is the most epic of tales, a monumental work of art with a score that is searing, desperate and sublime.
Watching a whole Ring cycle takes place across a week. The 2024 Ring will be presented in three cycles:
Cycle I: 16 – 22 June 2024
Das Rheingold 16 June
Die Walküre 18 June
Siegfried 20 June
Götterdämmerung 22 June
Cycle II: 25 June – 30 June 2024
Das Rheingold 25 June
Die Walküre 26 June
Siegfried 28 June
Götterdämmerung 30 June
Cycle III: 4 – 9 July 2024
Das Rheingold 4 July
Die Walküre 5 July
Siegfried 7 July
Götterdämmerung 9 July
a heroic final chapter
The Times ★★★★☆
deeply satisfying
The Guardian ★★★★☆
An epic vision of Wagner
i news ★★★★☆
a sharp and brilliant orchestra
The Telegraph ★★★★☆
The three Norns spin the past, present and future into the Rope of Fate. They sing of Wotan felling the World Ash Tree and of Alberich’s curse. Their omniscience comes to a sudden end as the rope breaks.
On Brünnhilde’s mountaintop, Brünnhilde and Siegfried prepare to part. They exalt in their love and promises of fidelity. Siegfried gives Brünnhilde the Ring and sets off down the Rhine.
Gunther yearns for fame and asks his wily halfbrother, Hagen, for advice. Hagen points out that both Gunther and his sister remain unmarried and that Gunther should wed the greatest woman in the world (Brünnhilde). Gunther cannot woo her, however, but the hero Siegfried could on his behalf. Hagen produces a potion that can make Siegfried forget that he’s ever seen a woman and make him fall in love with Gutrune.
Siegfried is welcomed into Gibich Hall. He is offered a drink, tainted with the potion. He immediately declares his love for Gutrune, offers to help Gunther find a wife and swears a bloodbrother oath with his prospective brother-in-law. Gunther and Siegfried depart for Brünnhilde’s rock, leaving Hagen to keep watch.
Brünnhilde is visited by her Valkyrie sister, Waltraute. She has dared to incur Wotan’s wrath in order to tell her sister of the gods’ misery and to beg her to return the Ring to the Rhinemaidens. Only thus can she break its curse. Brünnhilde refuses to give up Siegfried’s pledge of love.
Brünnhilde hears Siegfried’s horn but is horrified to be confronted with a stranger. Siegfried has used the Tarnhelm to change his shape into that of Gunther. He claims Brünnhilde as Gunther’s bride, wrestles the Ring from her and they enter the cave together.
Hagen is visited by Alberich in the deepest part of the night. His father urges him to be strong, clever and to avenge him. Hagen pacifies him, saying that the plan is already in action.
Siegfried has sped back to claim Gutrune’s hand in marriage. Hagen is tasked with preparing for the double wedding and summons Gunther’s men. The bride and groom arrive and Brünnhilde is shocked to find Siegfried betrothed to Gutrune. She sees the Ring on his finger and realises what has happened. She accuses Siegfried of treachery, which he denies, and they both swear on Hagen’s weapon that they are telling the truth. Siegfried leaves with the bridal party.
Hagen offers to avenge Brünnhilde if she helps him defeat Siegfried. Her solution is simple: she used all her magic to protect him but left his back unguarded. Hagen tells Gunther that Siegfried has the Nibelung Ring and unites him with Brünnhilde in a pact to kill him.
The Rhinemaidens dream of a hero returning their gold to them. Siegfried is out hunting and comes across them. They offer to help him if he returns the Ring. He refuses their offer, and they tell him to watch out – he will die today and someone else will return the gold.
The rest of the hunting party arrive. To cheer up Gunther, Siegfried offers him wine and recounts tales from his life. The wine has been spiked by Hagen and he starts to recall his love for Brünnhilde. Hagen stabs him with the weapon he swore upon during the wedding. Siegfried dies thinking of Brünnhilde.
Hagen reveals Siegfried’s body to Gutrune, claiming that a boar killed him. Gunther, Gutrune and Hagen argue. In a struggle for the Ring, Hagen kills Gunther. Brünnhilde intervenes and takes ownership of both the Ring and Siegfried’s body. She demands a funeral pyre be built and meditates upon her loss. Finally, she bids Wotan eternal rest, tells the Rhinemaidens to reclaim the Ring from her ashes and rides into the flames on her horse, Grane.
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| Jul | Sold out |
