The Rhinegold - Greedy. Jealous. Lustful. These gods are all-too-human.

At the bottom of the Rhine, the three Rhinemaidens, Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Floßhilde, play together. Alberich, a horny Nibelung dwarf, appears from a deep chasm and tries to woo them. The maidens mock his advances and he grows angry – he chases them, but they elude, tease and humiliate him. A sudden ray of sunshine pierces the depths, to reveal the Rhinegold. Our horny dwarf nicks the aquatic gold and fashions an all-powerful ring out of it. Sound familiar Tolkien fans?

 

So begins Richard Wagner’s first opera in his exciting Ring Cycle. And what wow it was. 

Paul, Stuart, and I sat in awe last Friday night in the Dress Circle of the London Coliseum in London’s glitzy West End. 

 

Based on Nordic and German legends we got to meet plenty of deficient deities during the night. Greedy. Jealous. Lustful. These gods were all-too-human.

 

ENO are aiming to perform the entire four-opera Ring Cycle. And this Rhinegold production was sexy (it starts with a bit of full-frontal nudity), funny (genuine laugh out loud), was great to look at (the rainbow bridge was just stunning), and beautifully sung and acted. The 2 hour 45 minute with no interval simply flew by. 

 

Of particular note was Leigh Melrose's sublime Alberich and the three Rhinemaidens (Eleanor Dennis, Idunnu Münch and Katie Stevenson).

 

Olivier award-winning director, Richard Jones, brought us the wow-factor. ENO Music Director, Martyn Brabbins, channelled Wagner’s tempestuous score beautifully conducting the ENO Orchestra. 

 

We loved it. 

@EnglishNationalOpera #LoveENO #rhinegold