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Gramophone Magazine September 2025

International Opera Awards
Shortlisted - complete recording

Tomasz Konieczny (Wotan/Der Wanderer), Camilla Nylund (Brünnhilde), Klaus Florian Vogt (Siegfried), Daniela Köhler (Sieglinde), Eric Cutler (Siegmund), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Mime), Christopher Purves (Alberich)

In 2024, near Wagner’s former Zurich residence, where much of the Ring des Nibelungen was composed, Opernhaus Zürich staged its first complete Ring cycle in more than 20 years, performed under the musical direction of Gianandrea Noseda. “In a way, the 'Ring' returned to its origins,” said Andreas Homoki, stage director of Wagner’s grandiose myth, which depicts the rise and fall of an entire world, delving into themes of love, fate, courage, and betrayal.

At its core, the Ring des Nibelungen is also a family drama about Wotan, the father of the gods, and his struggle to keep and break treaties, about freedom, its presence and absence, and his desperate attempts to halt the very downfall he set in motion.

Homoki’s production brings the gods, humans, and mythical beings strikingly close, making their relationships and motivations vivid and compelling through meticulous character portrayal.

The same outstanding cast performs across all four operas, heightening the dramaturgic intensity: Tomasz Konieczny as Wotan, Camilla Nylund as Brünnhilde, Christopher Purves as Alberich, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke as Mime, and Klaus Florian Vogt as Siegfried, who also gave his acclaimed role debut in Homoki’s Zurich productions.