© Bayreuther Festspiele, Meistersinger 2018

News from the Members

30.12.2017
First glimpses of the new Kassel Ring
This new Ring, to be staged from late 2018 - 2020, will be the fifth production in Kassel since the war.
For its November meeting, the WS Kassel presented an interview with Markus Dietz, who will direct the new Ring in Kassel to be staged from late 2018 through 2020. Eighty people came to Grimm's Bistro to attend this event, the largest number that the Society has ever attracted. This will be the fifth Ring since the war in Kassel. Markus Dietz, born in 1961, has been working as a director since 1993, with highly successful productions in Kassel of Turandot, Die Tote Stadt and Elektra.

Nine months before the premiere of Das Rheingold, Dietz gave the audience his first insights into the development of the production. The starting point was a quote from the great Wagner expert Peter Wapnewski: The Ring of the Nibelung is a parable of life itself, which is innocent by nature yet guilty throughout its history. Markus Dietz made it clear what a great challenge this is: one and a half years of intensive work spent on the lyrics and the music and half a year spent working with the two stage designers Mayke Hegger and Ines Nadler. His priority is to ensure precise analysis and the "narration" of the musical drama in a coherent and comprehensible way. 

Additionally, there is the collaboration with the conductor, Kassel's new Music Director, Francesco Angelico.

In conclusion, although Markus Dietz was unable to reveal concrete details, all those who attend the interview that evening went home with the knowledge that a great event was imminent.

The Kassel Ring website is now up and running with details of casting, dates of the production and ticket sales etc.

http://www.der-ring-in-kassel.de/home/