Kirill Petrenko conducts Wagner’s “Das Rheingold”
Only those who renounce love can make use of the power of the golden ring – Das Rheingold, the prelude to Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, sets in motion a dark story of power and intrigue. Wagner’s music vividly depicts both the dramatic plot and the inner conflicts of the characters. The Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko present a concert performance of the work, with Christian Gerhaher appearing as Wotan for the first time.
A reflection of 19th-century industrial society, Richard Wagner’s monumental tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen tells the story of a world ruined by politics and capital, set against the backdrop of a mythical world of legends. The destruction of the world ash tree – a symbol of the exploitative destruction of nature – is the original sin at the beginning of this decline.
Power or love? That is the question at the beginning of the Rheingold narrative: seduced by the splendour of the treasure at the bottom of the Rhine, Alberich renounces love in order to forge a ring of power. Wotan, father of the gods, would never renounce the pleasures of love, but finds himself in financial straits when he has to pay the giants Fasolt and Fafner for the construction of his castle of the gods – he promptly pawns his sister-in-law Freia, goddess of spring and love. This soon turns out to be a bad idea, because without spring, there is no life. Wotan instructs the cunning fire god Loge to procure the Rhine gold for him – “By theft! What a thief stole, steal thou from the thief”.
When Wotan takes not only the gold but also the ring from Alberich, the dwarf curses him. Then Erda, the all-knowing mother of the world, appears. She warns Wotan of the destructive power of the ring – and prophesies the end of the gods. Das Rheingold ends with this tremendous cliffhanger, presented here in a concert performance by chief conductor Kirill Petrenko with the Berliner Philharmoniker and internationally renowned soloists: a monumental social utopia that has lost little of its relevance today.
Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill Petrenko
Christian Gerhaher
Gihoon Kim
Thomas Atkins
Brenton Ryan
Leigh Melrose
Thomas Cilluffo
© 2026 Berlin Phil Media GmbH
Category
Artists
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