A Rebel with a Cause

In 2013 Teatro Massimo di Palermo decided to present Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in a new production, especially designed for its huge stage and entrusted to Graham Vick (stage direction) and Richard Hudson (sets and costumes). The prologue and the first episode ('A key flaw', 26 January 2013 and 'Anything goes', 3 March 2013) were reviewed at that time. Due to financial problems and changes in the theatre management, after the first two operas of the cycle, the production was suspended. Now the Ring is back: Siegfried was premiered on 18 December as the last opera of the 2015 season — I was in the audience — and Götterdämmerung is scheduled to open the 2016 season on 28 January...