Siegfried: Riga Opera Festival

About the Event

Siegfried, the third opera of Richard Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen tetralogy, has all the ingredients of a gripping fairy tale.

A naive hero grows up deep in the forest without parents. Not yet knowing what fear is, he kills the dragon Fafner and wins not only the magical ring which has the power to rule the world, but also Brinnhilde, the Valkyrie who sleeps on a mountain top surrounded by an impenetrable wall of fire. Wagner’s music, a sublime web of leitmotifs, is as emotionally rich as it is dramatically thrilling.

“Siegfried is a story about power and the battle for it. Being one of our most quintessential quests, it is always relevant, and never more relevant than today. Siegfried is specially trained and nurtured with one specific aim—as an instrument for acquiring power. However, the power of childishness and nature has survived in Siegfried, and that is what makes this character so fascinating,” says Viestur Kairish.

The Riga Opera Festival, founded in 1998 as the first festival of its size and scale in Eastern Europe, has already become a valuable tradition. The festival is highly anticipated by both Latvian audiences and opera‐lovers from abroad who form the biggest part of all Riga Opera Festival’s visitors. Every summer, the festival marks the end of the Latvian National Opera’s performance season with an overview of the best moments of the previous year, offering fans a chance to relive their favourite scenes or see what they’ve missed.

Production
Conductor: Cornelius Meister
Stage Director: Viestur Kairish
Set and Costume Designer: Ieva Jurjāne
Lighting Designer: Linus Fellbom

Performed in German with Latvian and English surtitles.