Concerto Köln Performs Wagner’s “Siegfried” at the Lucerne Festival

With "Siegfried", the third work of Richard Wagner’s "Der Ring des Nibelungen" was performed. The concert took place on September 12 as part of the Lucerne Festival.

At the heart of the project is the close connection between scholarly research and musical practice. The aim is to reconstruct how Wagner envisioned his Ring and how it might have sounded. Scholars work directly with the conductor, orchestra members, and singers. The project also involves the meticulous reconstruction of historical instruments and their playing techniques, as well as the rediscovery of a historical approach to text, which differs significantly from modern interpretative practices: singers in Wagner’s time not only used less vibrato but also employed a wide range of dramatic expression, extending even to spoken passages.

On stage were tenor Thomas Blondelle (Siegfried), baritone Thomas Ebenstein (Mime), bass-baritone Derek Welton (Wanderer), baritone Nick Mogg (Alberich), bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Fafner), mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger (Erda), soprano Åsa Jäger (Brünnhilde), and a soloist from the Tölzer Knabenchor (Forest Bird), all of whom captivated the audience with their impressive performances.

All four works of the Ring cycle will be completed by 2026, marking the 150th anniversary of the premiere at the Bayreuth Festival. This historically informed interpretation is expected to shed new light on the cycle.

The Wagner Cycles
A project of the Dresden Music Festival under the artistic direction of Jan Vogler and Kent Nagano