The Ring of the Nibelung is a total work of art on a par with works of world literature such as Homer’s Iliad or Dante’s Divina commedia. It is astonishing how homogeneous this work appears to us, which was created over a period of 25 years and in a complex process of development.
With “Rheingold,” Wagner depicts the worlds of the Rhinemaidens and the gods, the underworld of the Nibelungs and Valhalla Castle with masterful musical means. After a composer’s block of almost six years, the 40-year-old’s creativity exploded and he composed this colorful world within six months. It is inconceivable that the “Rheingold”, when it was heard for the first time 23 years later in the context of a Ring performance in Bayreuth, still convinced as a visionary work.