Wagner's Dream

Vlieger’s monumental symphonic adaptation of Wagner’s epic Ring cycle will transport you from Das Rheingold through to Götterdämmerung in 65 minutes: with rarities like four Wagner tubas and multiple anvils, it’ll be one of the largest orchestras ever seen on the Dome stage.

Surely one of the most ambitious concerts ever mounted by BPO! The charismatic young conductor Geoffrey Paterson – winner of the Leeds Conducting Competition, a regular guest at the Royal Opera House and assistant to Kirill Petrenko at Bayreuth –  guides enormous forces through Wagner’s dream of Rhinemaidens, Valkyries, gods and giants, fiery dragons and – finally – the immolation of Valhalla. Forget Game of Thrones – this is the original heroic epic. Our surtitles will steer you through the action.

In a short but spicy first half, we open with György Ligeti’s dreamy Atmosphères (featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 200I: A Space Odyssey) and Luciano Berio’s witty Folk Songs, in the full orchestral version. A showstopper featuring settings from eleven countries, it’s performed by the sensational Australian mezzo soprano Lotte Betts-Dean.