De Singel
Antwerpen, Belgium
Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
Der Ring Ohne Worte | The Ring Without Words
Orchestral suite from the opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen | The Ring of the Nibelung.
Compiled by Lorin Maazel (1987)
I Das Rheingold | The Rhine Gold
II. Die Walküre | The Valkyrie
III. Siegfried
IV. Götterdämmerung | Twilight of the Gods
Utopia Orchestra
Conductor Teodor Currentzis
Imagine witnessing the birth of a world, its shape slowly emerging from the shimmering depths of primeval waters. You are then transported to the realm of powerful and resplendent—though far from flawless—gods, who reign in a celestial hall accessible by a rainbow bridge. In an instant, you plunge into a shadowy underworld, where dimly lit tunnels echo with the endless labor of enslaved dwarves and the clanging of hammers. Ahead are two tales of doomed, yet deeply human love, spanning two generations of a single family. Fierce warrior-maidens race laughing through the skies; a boy hero slays a monster, unaware that purity of heart cannot shield him from malice. At last, the world born of water is consumed by fire. This is Der Ring des Nibelungen—a monumental four-part opera cycle, fifteen hours long and more than 25 years in the making, that redefined the possibilities of music theatre. Its key symphonic episodes have been distilled by American conductor Lorin Maazel into a 70-minute orchestral suite without the addition of a single note by anyone other than Wagner himself.
The Ring Without Words, a project realized by Maazel in 1987 in collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic, is an attempt to capture Wagner’s tetralogy in purely orchestral form—stripping away its vocal elements while preserving the cycle’s dramatic integrity. As early as 1960, in a conversation with the composer’s grandson, stage director Wieland Wagner, the idea emerged of a paradoxical symphonic autonomy latent in what remains the most monumental operatic score ever written. Wagner’s instrumental writing, rich with recurring leitmotifs and their transformations, contains within itself the essential narrative and symbolic structure of the saga.
Later, while working on a full production of the Ring, Maazel became increasingly convinced of this idea. Though initially hesitant to undertake a task of such scale, he eventually accepted the Berlin Philharmonic’s invitation to create a symphonic adaptation of the Ring. In his version, Maazel adheres strictly to the principle of through-composed narrative, avoiding stylistic or structural modifications. All passages follow their original sequence, with no additions or reorchestration; vocal lines are assigned to instruments only where musically essential. The Ring Without Words is not only the work of a distinguished musician, but of a profound Wagnerian. Concentrated yet dramatically lucid, the suite is crafted with immense respect for the original—allowing the Ring to be heard not only as a theatrical text, but also as one of the greatest symphonic creations in the history of music. It reveals, through orchestral language alone, not only vividness (sometimes outshining even Hollywood’s most lavish scores), but also the philosophical, mythological, and cultural depth Wagner embedded in his epic.