Grange Park Opera

The Gold is stolen and the trouble begins

Das Rheingold is the first part of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle, to be spread across four years. Our thrilling new production from Charles Edwards comes exactly 150 years after the first Bayreuth performance.

We meet many of the Ring’s main characters: Wotan, ruler of the Gods, and his wife Fricka; the slippery Loge, god of Fire; two lumbering giants, Fasolt and Fafner; and the three Rhinemaidens, playing in the river with the golden ring that will cause a whole world of trouble when the cunning dwarf Alberich steals it.

With a cast of outstanding British singers, Das Rheingold marks an important landmark in Grange Park Opera’s evolution.

The acoustic and intimacy of our five-storey opera house have been deemed exceptional for Wagner’s sound world, and emboldened by the success of Tristan, Die Walküre and Flying Dutchman, we have decided the time is ripe.

Be warned: Wagnerians are insatiable and tickets will go fast!

Performance dates 2026:

Sun 14 June 5pm
Sat 20 June 5pm
Fri 26 June 5pm
Sun 5 July 5pm
Fri 10 July 5pm

Cast & Creatives

WOTAN, ruler of the gods ∙ JAMES RUTHERFORD
FRICKA, his wife ∙ CHRISTINE RICE
FREIA, her sister ∙ RACHEL NICHOLLS
DONNER, her brother ∙ THOMAS ISHERWOOD
ALBERICH, lord of the Nibelungs  ∙ DAVID STOUT
MIME, his brother ∙ ADRIAN THOMPSON
FASOLT, giant, in love with Freia  ∙ MATTHEW ROSE
FAFNER, his brother ∙ DAVID SHIPLEY
LOGE, demi-god of fire ∙ MARK LE BROCQ
ERDA, Earth goddess ∙ SARA FULGONI

CONDUCTOR ∙ HARRY SEVER
DIRECTOR & SET DESIGN ∙ CHARLIE EDWARDS
COSTUME DESIGNER ∙ GABRIELLE DALTON
LIGHTING DESIGNER ∙ TIM MITCHELL

      Orchestra of English National Opera

Synopsis

Three Rhinemaidens guard the magical Rhine gold, which can be forged into a ring that grants limitless power – but only to someone who renounces love. The sly dwarf Alberich does just that: he curses love, steals the gold, and sets out for global domination.

Meanwhile Wotan, king of the gods, has just had his fortress, Valhalla, built by giants Fasolt and Fafner. But how to pay the builders? The giants lust after Freia, the goddess of youth, but her fellow gods refuse to give her up. Wotan hears about Alberich’s ring and decides to steal it, to pay off the giants instead.

Wotan enlists Loge, the mercurial god of fire, and goes down into Nibelheim to trick Alberich. While the dwarf shows off his magic powers they capture him, force him to give up his treasure, and take the ring. When the giants return for their payment, Wotan confronts them. But the earth goddess Erda intervenes, warning him of the ring’s dark fate, so he relents. Fafner kills Fasolt over the treasure, and becomes the next to take on the ill-fated ring. As the gods march across a rainbow bridge to Valhalla, ominous warnings sound from the Rhinemaidens, mourning their lost gold.