Das Rheingold on the Mariinsky label

The release of the preliminary evening of Richard Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, planned for 2 September 2013, may be ordered on the Mariinsky label’s website. Customers who pre-order will have the advantage of receiving the disc one week in advance of the official release date.

The label’s twenty-second release is a recording of Das Rheingold, produced in the stunning acoustic surroundings of the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre in 2010 and 2012. Fans of Wagner’s music will be able to admire the international cast of soloists and “Gergiev’s absolute control of his orchestra” (Wagner News).

The roles of the supreme god Wotan and his wife Fricka will be performed by the same two magnificent singers who drew tremendous acclamation from music pundits for their first recording from Wagner’s tetralogy (Die Walküre), released on the Mariinsky label on 11 February this year. The role of Wotan is sung by the outstanding “new-generation” bass René Pape, whose interpretation of this role has been hailed internationally. His longstanding and productive collaboration with maestro Gergiev has already brought him several prestigious awards in the Wagnerian repertoire. In addition to the aforementioned Die Walküre, three years ago the Mariinsky label released a recording of Parsifal featuring René which received a Grammy nomination, in addition to being named “Disc of the Year” by The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, “Disc of the Month” by BBC Music Magazine and “Editor’s Choice” by Great Britain’s Gramophone magazine. The role of Wotan’s wife Fricka is sung by the stunning mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, described by critics as “the finest Fricke of our age” (Francois Leyelle, Opéra).

Alberich, ruler of the Nibelungs and Wotan’s antithesis, is performed by famed Mariinsky Opera baritone Nikolai Putilin, whose vocal skills and incredibly convincing dramatic expressiveness in this role have also earned him international renown. The cunning and ingenious god Loge is performed by yet another acclaimed German singer – tenor Stefan Rügamer.

In 2014 the Mariinsky label will be releasing audio recordings of the operas Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, thus completing the first ever version of Der Ring des Nibelungen in the original German in the history of Russian musical theatre.