Conclusion of the »Wagner Cycles«: Kent Nagano conducts Wagner’s »Götterdämmerung« at Lucerne Festival and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris (September 2026)

A special concertante performance of »Götterdämmerung« will happen at the Lucerne Festival on September 10, as well as at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on September 13. It is the final part of Wagner’s »Ring«, which has been explored in the Dresden Music Festival’s »The Wagner Cycles« Project that began in 2023 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the cycle in 2026.

Under the overall artistic direction of Jan Vogler, director of the Festival, and the conductor Kent Nagano, and with the involvement of a team of international scholars, each of the four parts of the Richard Wagner’s tetralogy, »The Ring of the Nibelung«, was in the focus these past three years.  The artists and scholars worked on historical performance practice and to date have brought performances to the concert stage in Dresden and on tour in Europe’s music centers. All of the four productions are being reworked in the context of their time of origin, based on the latest findings of Wagner and performance practice research and affiliated with a new »Richard Wagner Academy« in Dresden.

The special feature of the »The Wagner Cycles« project is the direct link between academic work and musical practice, with the focus on how Wagner imagined his »Ring« and how it might have sounded. The researchers work closely with the conductor Kent Nagano, the orchestra members and the singers. In this way, research and practice inspire and enrich each other in a unique way. The elaborate reconstruction of the historical instruments and their playing techniques, as well as the rediscovery of a historical approach to the word (which differs considerably from today’s interpretation techniques) are part of the development. For example, the singers of Wagner’s time not only sang with less vibrato, they also used numerous dramatic means that could extend to speaking.

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»Over the course offour exciting years, ‘The Wagner Cycles’ has earned a firm place in the history of the ‘Ring’s’ reception. The sound of the original instruments and the valuable insights from musicology have revealed a new dimension and a fresh perspective on the psychological portrait of the legendary tetralogy«, says Jan Vogler, artistic director of the Dresden Music Festival and artistic director of »The Wagner Cycles«.
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After »Rheingold« was performed in 2023, »Die Walküre« in 2024, and »Siegfried« in 2025 – all to great acclaim from audiences and critics alike – the Ring was completed this year:

»Götterdämmerung« had its premiere on May 14,2026 as part of the opening concert of this year’s Dresden Music Festival, and then went on tour internationally, including performances in Bayreuth(May 24th 2026, Friedrichsforum), Hamburg (May 26th 2026, Elbphilharmonie) and Cologne(June 4th 2026, Kölner Philharmonie). The performances at Lucerne Festival (September 10th 2026, KKL Lucerne) and in Paris (Septmeber 13th 2026, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées) mark the conclusion of the Dresden Ring project “The Wagner Cycles,” and include the following cast:

Dresden Festival Orchestra
Concerto Köln
Dresden Festival Choir of the Richard Wagner Academy
Choir of the KlangVerwaltung
Kent Nagano, Director

Young Woo Kim, Siegfried
Johannes Kammler, Gunther
Daniel Schmutzhard, Alberich
Patrick Zielke, Hagen
Åsa Jäger,Brünhilde
Sophia Brommer, Gutrune
Olivia Vermeulen, Waltraute
Jasmin Etminan, First Norn
Marie-Luise Dreßen, Second Norn
Valentina Farcas, Third Norn
Ania Vegry, Woglinde
Ida Aldrian, Wellgunde
Eva Vogel, Flosshilde

The entire Dresden Ring cycle can be experienced in May 2027 at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
Please see a series of videos here that explain the project in more detail.

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