The Lord of the Gods, maker of laws is in trouble. To shore up his own delusional ambitions and hang on to the Gods’ fading glory he chooses to break the very law which holds all races in balance. Mother Nature warns that greed for power will bring its own destruction. No-one listens.

Birmingham Opera Company’s eagerly awaited production of Wagner’s RhineGold comes to Symphony Hall. Performed in English, with its full musical forces: an orchestra of 82 players from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a stellar international cast plus local volunteers. As ever, it's opera for our times. 

Image: Alpesh Chauhan © Adam Fradgley

Continuing the company’s ongoing collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the cast will be accompanied on stage by CBSO musicians, enjoying the world-renowned acoustics at the orchestra’s home venue. The CBSO will be conducted by Music Director and winner of the 2021 International Opera Award (Newcomer of the Year), Alpesh Chauhan. 

Get your tickets now! 

Performances will now take place at Symphony Hall Birmingham on Saturday 31^st July and Monday 2^nd August at 7.30pm. Priced at £12.50 and £19.99 with concessions (10% discount for unwaged, under 16 and over 60), there will be both traditional seating as well as a section of socially distanced seating.

Box Office: 0121 780 3333 (phone lines are open between 10am - 2pm Monday - Saturday)

Or book via the Symphony Hall's online box office.

Image: Chrystal E Williams (Fricka) © Adam Fradgley

Thirty years on from our first Ring Cycle... 

Coming together after a year of isolation, the performances have been in planning for two years and take place a full thirty years after the newly formed Birmingham Opera Company first staged the Ring Cycle.  Richard Willacy, Executive Director, said:

“Whilst it’s not business ‘as usual’, you can always expect the unexpected from us and it promises to be as dynamic as ever. Forging ahead, we will share this great opportunity to experience this masterpiece, in its English translation by Jeremy Sams. In these uncertain times, the only certainty is purpose and ours will always be to bring great opera to as wide an audience as possible.  We have been collaborating with local networks to extend access to communities across the city whom we’ve touched during this year of isolation. We’re still rehearsing in a warehouse space at Port Loop and we guarantee audiences our unique and radical Birmingham Opera Company take on the original myth of the forging of the golden ring. As ever it is an opera for our times.”

Image: Eric Greene (Wotan) © Adam Fradgley

The Cast 

Wotan	Eric Greene
Loge	Brenden Gunnell
Fricka	Chrystal E Williams
Freia	Francesca Chiejina
Froh	Amar Muchhala
Donner	Byron Jackson
Erda	Gweneth-Ann Rand
Alberich	Ross Ramgobin
Fasolt	Keel Watson
Fafner	Andrew Slater
Mime	John-Colyn Gyeantey
Woglinde	Zoe Drummond
Wellgunde	Felicity Buckland
Flosshilde	Georgia Mae Bishop

Image: L-R Eric Greene (Wotan); Ross Ramgobin (Alberich); Brenden Gunnell (Loge) © Adam Fradgley 

Graham Vick and Alpesh Chauhan said...

“I’m very excited that 30 years on from The Ring Saga we can now plan full scale Wagner in Birmingham - and cast Gods, Dwarves and Giants largely from the diverse group of singers whom we have been nurturing. This revolutionary political satire is also a great show piece for our new Music Director and for the marvellous CBSO. From the murky depths of the unconscious to self-serving promises of castles in the air and the voice of a planet facing its own destruction - it could’ve been written now.” - Graham Vick, Artistic Director, Birmingham Opera Company 

“I’m delighted that RhineGold is my first production as Music Director following my 2019 debut with the company with Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. We have a stellar international line-up of soloists, boosted by the incredible forces of the CBSO and the people of Birmingham who volunteer to be a part of our creativity, all alongside the BOC team which is a hugely exciting prospect to make this opera come to life. This work is a staple of the core operatic repertoire, and I look forward to bringing Wagner's masterpiece to life." - Alpesh Chauhan, Music Director, Birmingham Opera Company 

Note on COVID-19

We're normally known for staging productions in large warehouses and former factories in which the cast, volunteers and audience freely mingle in ways which have been impractical under current conditions. With uncertainties over changes to the Covid Road Map present throughout rehearsals, the decision was taken to move the production from its intended venue at Port Loop, part of a major redevelopment site by Urban Splash.

Banner Image: L-R: Brenden Gunnell (Loge); Eric Greene (Wotan); Chrystal E Williams (Fricka) © Adam Fradgley