DAS RHEINGOLD / JAMES GAFFIGAN / ATELIER LYRIQUE ACADEMY
Enter the legend of the Ring! Composed in 1854, Das Rheingold is the first part of Wagner’s tetralogy. The style of the opera has nothing in common with that of Götterdämmerung, written 20 years later. And yet, what sublime scenes, from the E-flat major Prelude symbolising the Rhine, to the forge scene or the entry of the gods into Valhalla!
Programme
RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883)
Das Rheingold
Concert without interval
Artist(s)
James Gaffigan conducts Orff: Carmina Burana at Verbier Festival 2026
Find out more
The Ring (or The Ring of the Nibelung) is a monolith in the history of music. This fabulous four-part epic occupied nearly twenty years of Richard Wagner’s life. Over some fifteen hours (spread across four evenings), the German composer draws on Germanic mythology to create a total work of art, a miraculous fusion of theatre and music. Of the four works that make up the tetralogy, Das Rheingold is surely the closest to a fairy tale. Here we are in the enchanted world of gods and legendary creatures. For many years, the Verbier Festival has established itself as one of the finest Wagnerian stages in the world. Much is therefore expected of the musicians of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra, under their conductor James Gaffigan, and of the VF Atelier Lyrique Choir who find in roles such as the god Wotan, the goddess Erda, the dwarf Alberich, or the giant Fafner parts worthy of their talent.
