Das Rheingold - English National Opera Guide 35 (includes libretto)

Das Rheingold, the opening of Wagner's four-part The Ring of the Nibelung, stands out as more genteel and picturesque than the others

But it immediately establishes the huge scale of the overall work, and the extraordinary musical language that will be displayed throughout

It is a miracle of musical history that Wagner's 1850 conception could be brought to completion, in an organic whole, some 25 years later

Stewart Spencer discusses the way in which Wagner fuses genuine mythology with his own invention and John Deathridge places The Rhinegold in the context of The Ring and its century

REVIEWS

'Brilliantly produced and superb value' ~ Sunday Times

'All these will provide the new opera-goer with food for thought' ~ Daily Telegraph

'Wholehearted recommendation of this valuable new series' ~ TLS