Opera lovers will gather at Vox Cinema in Abu Dhabi tomorrow (Tuesday) for the first of a four-part screening of Richard Wagner’s epic opera ‘Der Ring Des Nibelungen’, known as the ‘Ring Cycle’. The production, by New York’s highly acclaimed opera company the Metropolitan Opera, features world-renown stars including Bryn Terfel (Wotan), Deborah Voigt (Brunnhilde), Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried), and Jonas Kaufmann (Siegmund). The four-opera cycle is presented over two weeks as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival.

Making its return to the Abu Dhabi Festival in 2012, ‘The Met in HD’ series is entering its sixth successful year. The Emmy award-winning series broadcasts into movie theatres in countries across the globe. This screening is a new production of the opera epic, first premiering at the Met over the course of the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.

Speaking about the importance of partnerships with renowned organisations such as the Metropolitan Opera, Her Excellency Mrs. Hoda I Al Khamis Kanoo, Founder and Artistic Director of the Abu Dhabi Festival said: “The Festival this year celebrates the theme ‘Connecting Cultures’ and through this series we are doing just that. Participating in this global series enables people from Abu Dhabi to connect with cultures around the world through a mutual appreciation for the magic of the opera. I am delighted that the Festival is once again participating in this fantastic series. This is a stellar cast performing what for many people is the greatest operatic work ever written and I am very much looking forward to it.”

Taking an astounding 26 years to complete, The Ring Cycle represents what Wagner referred to as ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, meaning ‘a total work of art’. Combining music, theatre, literature, architecture, and other disciplines it continues to make an impact beyond the world of opera. The four-part Cycle includes ‘Das Rheingold’, ‘Die Walkure’, ‘Siegfried’ and ‘Gotterdammerung’. The story is loosely based on the medieval Icelandic Edda epics and the German Nibelungenlied.

Amongst the performances to look forward to in the third week of the Abu Dhabi Festival is La Bayadere, a ballet from Semperoper on the 30th and 31st of March at the Emirates Palace auditorium. Tickets can be purchased online at www.timeouttickets.com/abudhabifestival; through the Abu Dhabi Festival ticket hotline number +971 50 9076158 and in person at the Emirates Palace Box Office. The Box Office will be open daily from 11am till 1pm and from 4pm till 7pm.

For further information and details of the full Abu Dhabi Festival programme, ‘like’ us on Facebook and ‘follow’ us on Twitter or visit www.abudhabifestival.ae

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