The Wagnerian gods return to the Liceu

Barcelona"God is dead." Nietzsche's fatalistic-liberating maxim appears painted yellow in a Gothic church. Alberich, the Nibelung, is a deranged punk who steals the Rhine gold hidden in the very church that houses a grand altarpiece reserved for the gods. Wotan, the god, in contrast, is dressed according to medieval mythology, complete with a winged helmet. Thus, by linking nihilism, realism, and myth, German stage director Tobias Kratzer sets the stage. Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), the first of the four operas in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. It premiered in 2024 at the Bavarian State Opera and will arrive at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in early 2027.

Both theaters are the producers of the tetralogy, which will be performed in Barcelona over four seasons: after The Rhine Gold, it will be the turn of Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) the 2027-2028 season, Siegfried the 2028-2029 and Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) the 2029-2030, the four operas under the baton of Jonathan Nott, the new musical director of the LiceuIt has already been performed in Munich The Rhine Gold and The Valkyrie It is scheduled for June 2026. As reported in the chronicles of the premiere in Bavaria, Kratzer brings together the mundane world and the world of the gods, mixing contemporary and medieval aesthetics, everyday life and magic.

"Just like in the Marvel universe, in The Rhine Gold "There's also strange magic in this world, a parallel universe to our present, with the technological devices and psychology of our time, but permeated by magic," says the stage director. The connection to Marvel isn't a stretch: for example, in the universe of comic book (and film) superheroes, Thor is a Wagnerian epic, as is the case with so many other expressions of popular culture that reflect Wagner's influence. Tannhäuser at the 2024 Bayreuth Festival. "The first thing that must happen is that the audience has a good time. And, at the same time, that the performance sparks profound reflections: this is the best that can be hoped for from an opera," Kratzer asserts.

"Tobias Kratzer's reading was, for us, the discovery of the best Ring Barcelona deserves: one Ring "It's a production of our generation that we are very excited to present, not only for its contemporary perspective and the magic it offers, but also for the literalness with which it respects the way Wagner conceived his work," says the Liceu's artistic director, Víctor García de Gomar, pleased to be able to present a new production of the tetralogy. At the Liceu theater The previous production, directed by Robert Carsen, was performed between 2013 and 2016.

For Nott, who has just been presented as the new music director of the Liceu, taking over from Josep Pons, the tetralogy is nothing new. He has conducted it three times in staged performances and a fourth time in concert version. However, he doesn't hide his enthusiasm for the Liceu challenge. "It's very exciting to do a new Ring cycle, and even more so at the Liceu, with all its Wagnerian tradition," says Nott, a conductor who knows the Wagnerian corpus intimately and understands the emotional impact of each musical phrase. He demonstrated this at the press conference this Thursday in the Liceu Foyer.

As for the cast, García de Gomar's aim is to have "the same family of singers" throughout the tetralogy. "We are looking for a generation of singers who can shape the future of Wagner," says the Liceu's artistic director. The cast for the following has already been announced: The Rhine GoldWotan will be sung by the Canadian bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee, who has already sung the role in Munich; Brownlee is one of the most solid emerging talents in the Wagnerian world, as he demonstrated in The Flying Dutchman which was performed at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia in 2025. The remaining singers (none of whom sang in Munich) are baritones Kartal Karagedik (Donner) and Georg Nigl (Alberich); tenors Roger Padullés (Froh), Nicky Spence (Loge), and Mikeldi Atxalandabaso (Mime); basses Ante Jerkunica (Fasolt) and Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Fafner); mezzo-sopranos Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Fricka), Okka von der Damerau (Erda), Jennifer Feinstein (Wellgunde), and Helena Ressurreição (Flosshilde); and sopranos Anett Fritsch (Freia) and Ximena Agurto (Woglinde). Okka von der Damerau, incidentally, was the memorable Ortrud in the controversial production of Lohengrin by Katharina Wagner at the Liceu.

Romeo Castellucci's failed tetralogy at the Liceu and an opportunity for Raquel García-Tomás

Tobias Kratzer's Ring cycle wasn't the Liceu's first choice. The initial idea was to co-produce Romeo Castellucci's production with La Monnaie in Brussels. Disagreements between the Belgian theater and the Italian stage director thwarted the plan after the first two operas. "We were very excited about Romeo Castellucci's proposal, and it was a shame that La Monnaie didn't commit to the last two parts," recalls Garcia de Gomar. Since the Liceu wanted a Ring cycle with a single, unified vision, they ultimately settled on Kratzer's version after being "fascinated" by it. The Rhine Gold

Castellucci's failed operation has had its costs. Each opera cost 200,000 euros, as reported by the Liceu's general director, Valentí Oviedo. "We lost the money for one of the two productions that was staged in Brussels. But Munich has made the tetralogy more economical," he adds. The good relationship with La Monnaie, directed by Christina Scheppelmann (former artistic director of the Liceu), facilitates the exchange of other productions, and the Liceu could benefit from this arrangement. Alexina B., the opera by Raquel García-Tomás, which, as Oviedo says, has a good chance of being performed at the Brussels theater.