This recording is part of a four-year project by Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic to perform Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen for the first time in Hong Kong.
Composition History
Wagner's first sketches for the libretto of Siegfried, initially titled Jung-Siegfried (Young Siegfried), were written in 1851, with the music composed from 1856 onwards.
Performer Biography
Jaap van Zweden, the Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, is also the Music Director Designate of the New York Philharmonic, anticipating his inaugural season in 2018/19.
Performer Biography
Simon O'Neill, the tenor singing Siegfried, is a principal artist with major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The structure of Wagner's Ring tetralogy and its underlying theme of a curse owe a strong debt to Aeschylus and Greek tragedy.
Historical Context
Siegfried embodies some of Richard Wagner's political speculation, with the young King Ludwig II of Bavaria seen as a potential 'new Siegfried' to liberate Germany.
Composition History
Richard Wagner's tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen, was first performed as a whole in August 1876 at the new Festspielhaus in Bayreuth.
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