National Opera Company Regular Performance: Das Rheingold

[PERFORMANCE INTRODUCTION] The Prelude to an Epic Completed Over 26 Years He who becomes the master of the ring shall become its slave and face destruction The National Opera Company stages Wagner's opera *Das Rheingold*, opening the curtain on the *Ring of the Nibelung* series. *Das Rheingold* serves as the starting point of Wagner's four-part epic completed over 26 years, condensing the origins of love and power, greed and curse within mythic narrative. This work depicts the moment when the world's order fractures through conflict over the Rhine's gold, presenting for the first time the philosophical themes that run throughout the entire series. Conductor Lothar Koenigs, who left a profound impression with his densely layered conducting in *The Dead City* in 2024, will lead the orchestra, revealing the structural tension and energy of Wagner's music. Director Lorenzo Fiorone, who demonstrated flexible imagination and contemporary sensibility in *The Love for Three Oranges* in 2025, interprets the mythological narrative and announces the beginning of an unprecedented long-term project in Korea's operatic landscape that will continue through 2028. [SYNOPSIS] "O those blinded by gold, you shall bow before the Ring of the Nibelung" Deep within the Rhine River, three maidens guard the gold. The dwarf Alberich, consumed by the temptation of power, courts them, but the maidens mock him. Scorned, Alberich curses love and ultimately steals the gold to forge the Ring. Meanwhile, Wotan, king of the gods, commissions giant brothers to build Valhalla castle and promises the goddess Freia in return, but the gods are seized with terror at the prospect of losing eternal youth. Wotan attempts to seize Alberich's ring to resolve the crisis, but Alberich places a curse upon it. As Wotan tries to ignore the curse, the goddess Erda appears and warns him. Wotan ultimately surrenders the ring to the giants. The ring immediately awakens greed, causing the giant brothers to drive each other to death, and the gods enter Valhalla castle, built upon this tragedy.