Text provided by Kathleen Clawson, Artistic Director of the Dayton Opera, and Dr. Ron Anderson and Robb Sloan-Anderson Chair
Regional opera lovers have the rare opportunity to see Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold live in a brand new, fully-staged Dayton Opera production on April 14 and 16 at the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Das Rheingold is the first piece in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen), an epic four-opera saga that revolutionized opera. However, it’s not standard repertoire for regional opera companies because of the immense forces required to present it.
New to opera? Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the Star Wars movies, and the Harry Potter novels will find connections. Wagner’s fantastic epic tells the tale of the struggle for power in a world of gods, dwarves, and giants, all pursuing a magical ring cast from gold, giving its owner dominion over the world. Sound familiar? Although it weaves characters from Germanic and Nordic myths, it is an original story by Wagner. The music uses a series of themes (like a film score) associated with the story’s characters and objects. While many of Wagner’s operas are notoriously long, Das Rheingold isn’t! It is a two-hour production (as long as most movies today). Das Rheingold introduces all the characters you’ll see throughout the Ring Cycle, which sets the saga’s story in motion.
Das Rheingold requires a cast of more than 12 characters with specialized voices. Baritone Lester Lynch leads Das Rheingold’s extraordinary cast as Wotan, the ruler of the gods. Lynch made his Dayton Opera debut in 1999 and, since then, has performed with Dayton Opera and Dayton Philharmonic 10 times. In addition to Lynch’s Wotan, the cast includes Christian Sanders (Loge), Aubrey Allicock* (Alberich), Catherine Martin (Fricka), Lauren Decker* (Erda), Adam Cioffari* (Fasolt), Ben Brady* (Fafner), and Mary-Hollis Hundley* (Freia). Also featured are Dayton Opera Artists-in-Residence Artega Wright (Donner), Carl Rosenthal (Froh), Kayla Oderah* (Woglinde), Madison Montambault* (Wellgunde), and Allison Deady* (Flosshilde). The production team consists of Kathryn Rohe*, costume designer; Daniel Chapman*, projection designer; Pam Knauert Lavarnway, scenic designer; John Rensel, resident lighting designer; and wig/makeup designers Thomas Venditelli and Cass Brake.
Wagner sought a synthesis of music and drama, uniting orchestral music, singing, prose, and visual arts to create a new operatic storytelling method. Neal Gittleman conducts 75 musicians from the Dayton Philharmonic, showcased by the Schuster Center’s magnificent acoustics. I am proud to be Das Rheingold’s stage director. Dayton Opera has never presented a fully staged Wagner opera and is thrilled to produce Das Rheingold. Our collaboration reflects DPAA’s united belief that the arts are for everyone. Doesn’t our community deserve the opportunity to see and hear this epic masterwork live? I say an emphatic “yes!” With spectacular music, magnificent unamplified voices, new costumes, scenic design, and video projections unique to this production, Das Rheingold promises an experience to remember.
Kathleen Clawson’s Das Rheingold score.Das Rheingold performs Friday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 16, at 2:30 p.m. at the Schuster Center in Dayton, Ohio. For tickets, visit: Das Rheingold Tickets.
*denotes Dayton Opera debut
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