"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.

Teodoro Currentzis's presence in Barcelona is a regular occurrence, especially thanks to Ibercamera. Therefore, any musical event featuring one of the most sought-after conductors on the international scene is welcome. However, Monday's concert was perhaps the "easiest" of those offered by the Greek-born conductor, compared to the superb ensemble MusicaAeterna. "Easier" because, although Richard Wagner is a highly complex composer, his orchestral passages (preludes, vanes, or numbers that link the scenes of many of his musical dramas) hold immense appeal for a wide audience.

The great challenge of the 2025-2026 season of the Fundació Òpera Catalunya (FOC) is The Flying Dutchman, by Richard Wagner. Among other things, because it is the first time that a Wagnerian opera has been programmed in the 38 editions of the cycle. "It is the pearl of the season, the most ambitious project," admits Jordi Torrents, artistic director of the FOC. Wagner's first great romantic opera will be performed six times, from November 28 to December 9, at the Teatro la Farándula in Sabadell, the Teatro Fortuny in Reus, the Palacio de la Música in Barcelona, and L'Atlàntida in Vic. This production of The Flying Dutchman The stage direction is by Emilio López, and Josep Planells Schiaffino will conduct the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Friends of the Sabadell Opera Choir, and the Bruckner Barcelona Choir. The cast includes soprano Maribel Ortega, one of the most faithful voices to the FOC's programming, as Senta, and baritone José Antonio López takes on the role of the Dutchman. The cast is completed by José Ansaldi (Erik), Carlo Colombara (Daland), Elisabeth Gillming (Mary), and Jorge Juan Morata (Steurmann).

"The artist has the right, even the duty, to shock if he deems it necessary," said British writer Anthony Burgess. He was quite scandalous when filmmaker Stanley Kubrick turned the novel into a film in 1971. A Clockwork Orange (1962). We will return later to Burgess, free will, and seemingly arbitrary violence. Today, scandal is on the decline because the true powers that be have long since learned to defuse, assimilate, and monetize the artist's subversive pretensions. In fact, when an institution is scandalized to the point of bringing out the sword of censorship, as the Macba did with a work by Ines Doujak, at the exhibition The Beast and the Sovereign (2015), or the art fair Arch with Political prisoners in contemporary Spain by Santiago Sierra, actually shows weakness and insecurity.

Lohengrin is a sensational work, an unqualified masterpiece that serves as a hinge between historicist romanticism and the timeless conceptualization of the myth that Richard Wagner would undertake from then on. At this point, hardly anyone approaches it from a historical realist perspective, although Wagner based his work on events dating back to the 10th century and in 1850, when the piece premiered in Weimar, the scenery and costumes had to reconstruct that High Middle Ages. Times have changed and today the best option is to leave behind the cardboard cutouts and resort to the conceptualization of the Regietheater, of which we have had good examples at the Liceu, even in this opera: the brilliant (and controversial) production by Peter Konwitschny seen at the Rambla theatre in 2000 and 2006 is a good example.

"Only Katharina Wagner could allow herself to reinterpret Lohengrin in a new dramaturgy in which the good are bad and the bad are good," says the artistic director of the Liceu, Víctor Garcia de Gomar. To put it with Wagnerian grandiloquence, blood would legitimize Richard Wagner's great-granddaughter to turn history upside down and transform the immaculate hero of the opera into a production of Lohengrin with stage direction by Katharina Wagner, which will premiere at the Liceu on March 17, and which will have six performances until March 30. It is the same production that was due to premiere in March 2020, but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. "It was already very well-developed then," says Josep Pons, who will conduct the Liceu Orchestra in all six performances. Incidentally, among other elements, the production includes a robotic swan and an artificial lake, which are adding complexity to the rehearsals.