Explore the 2013 Ring Program!
Hear two of the great Wagner voices of our time, at the peak of their powers.
Pete Olds’ quick-thinking saves the day.
Explore the 1977 Ring Program.
Perhaps the wildest animal ever to appear on our stage…
The first full performance of Seattle Opera’s beloved “Green” Ring.
A new Siegfried added to the excitement of Seattle Opera’s most ambitious summer program yet.
Hear the voice of Noel Tyl, one of our first Wotans.
Explore the 1995 Ring Program!
From the 2009 Ring cycle performances
Explore the 1998/99 Tristan and Isolde Program!
Explore the 1986 Ring Program!
Glynn Ross begins introducing his favorite opera tetralogy to Seattle.
Our first production of Wagner’s great song of love and death.
“Ride of the Valkyries” — sung in English!
Wagner’s mighty epic performed for–and by!–kids all over Washington State.
Speight remembers his first great success with the RING.
The first time the world ended at Seattle Opera!
Explore the 1987 Ring Program!
The moment when the difference between Speight Jenkins and Glynn Ross became apparent!
Speight learns to listen to young people at final dress rehearsals.
By 1980, Seattle’s Ring was a well-known west coast cultural phenomenon.
The great Viennese soprano’s only Seattle appearance!
Seattle Opera’s only production to date of Wagner’s sunny comedy.
Watch a Video Excerpt
Hear the voice of Seattle’s original Ur-Mutter.
Explore the 1978 Ring Program!
Explore the 1971/72 Flying Dutchman Program!
The first Wagner production at Seattle Opera!
The making of the Ring
A new Brünnhilde headlined our second complete cycle.
Hear Seattle’s first malevolent Lord of the Ring.
The “Green” Ring looked better than ever this summer.
Explore the 1972/73 Die Walküre Program!
Speight remembers how the “Green” RING began its life.
Hear the great Canadian tenor sing one of his most gorgeous roles.
Our first RING in McCaw Hall–and Greer Grimsley’s first Wotan.
Johanna Meier and Alberto Remedios joined our cast this summer.
Explore the 2004/05 Lohengrin Program!
A complete list of Wagner performances in Seattle.
The Making of the Ring
Hear the mezzo who was Seattle’s original Queen of the Gods.
Explore the program for our Summer 1981 Wagner festival, featuring the Ring and Tristan and Isolde.
Explore the 2003/04 Parsifal Program!
Three-minute complilation of footage from the final dress rehearsal of 2009’s DAS RHEINGOLD.
Explore the 1980 Ring Program!
Excerpt from The Journal of the Wagner Society of Northern California
Explore the 1985/86 Die Walküre Program!
Speight remembers how supertitles came to Seattle Opera.
Explore the 1984/85 Tannhäuser Program!
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s first Music and Education Director!
Speight remembers how Nuremberg came to Seattle.
A cast substitution with unexpected results.
Speight’s story of saving his first-ever RING from disaster.
How the first go-around of “Ring 2” had some strengths and some weaknesses.
The first complete presentation of the imaginative Rochaix/Israel Ring 2.
Explore the 2009 Ring Program!
Speight remembers consecrating McCaw Hall with Wagner’s most Wagnerian opera.
It’s love at first sight (and hearing!) when Seattle Opera meets Richard Wagner.
The unforgettable opera that opened McCaw Hall!
A serenade gone hilariously wrong!
Explore the 2001 Ring Program!
Explore the 1994/95 Lohengrin Program!
From 2009 Ring cycle performances.
Explore the 2005 Ring Program!
Listen to Asher Fisch conduct overwhelming music from the first show in McCaw Hall!
The first Ring performed complete within a week in the U.S. in a generation.
Explore the 1974/75 Gotterdammerung Program!
Explore the 1980/81 Tristan and Isolde Program!
Listen to the voice of Seattle’s reigning king of the gods.
The final cycle produced by Glynn Ross.
A minimalist new production directed by Peter Kazaras that was inspired in part from the Ambrose Bierce short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
From the book, “Classical Music in America”
Wagner News: “An opera experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Explore the 1989/90 Master-Singers of Nuremberg Program!
Listen to excerpts from Seattle Opera’s English-language RINGS!
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s founding General Director!
Hear Asher Fisch conduct the TRISTAN Prelude!
RING 2 achieved widespread acceptance this summer, and the number of performances increased to three.
The award-winning performance in the first opera in the renovated McCaw Hall.
Explore the 1983 Ring Program!
Speight finds a new Siegfried–after the final dress rehearsal!
A second Ring opera is added to Seattle’s repertory.
Explore the 1973/74 Siegfried Program!
Watch Director’s Talk Video with Peter Kazaras
Explore the 1984 Ring Program!
The most familiar music from Wagner’s RING!
Watch clips from our imaginative second production of Wagner’s Ring.
One of our favorite baritones sings Alberich’s curse.
A game of musical chairs ensued when several Ring singers switched parts.
Listen to a clip from Perry Lorenzo’s famous RING lectures!
Explore the 2000/01 Das Rheingold, Die Walküre Program!
Speight remembers when the “Shiite Wagnerites” demanded his head.
Hear the SIEGFRIED Riddle Scene–in English!
This preview of our third RING production featured the first two operas in the cycle, presented in full one year later.
R. M. Campbell’s obituary recaps the remarkable career of Glynn Ross.
For Seattle Opera’s only production of this masterpiece, we projected titles above the stage for the first time.
The last summer for Ring 1!
Explore the 1991 Ring Program!
Explore the 1988/89 Flying Dutchman Program!
Part one of our series previewing 2009 RING Cycle focused on the artists involved and their rehearsal process.
Explore the 2007/08 Flying Dutchman Program!
Speight gets the swan just the way he likes it!
The once-controversial “Ring 2” finally earns complete acceptance.
Hear the bass-baritone who often sang Wotan in Seattle in the ’80s.
Watch Video: Music with Maestro Asher Fisch
Speight’s dreams come true with a match made in operatic heaven.
Speight: “A remarkably easy RING!”
Speight finds a new Siegfried–with two days notice!
The final outing of Ring 2 was a great success, artistically—and financially!
Simon Estes was a strong Hagen, and Ute Vinzing joined our Ring for the first time as Brünnhilde.
Explore the 1982 Ring Program!
Edward Sooter made a great addition to our Ring cast at its fifth consecutive summer.
Hear the bass who was with us from before the beginning.
Explore the 2010/11 Tristan and Isolde Program!
Wagner’s rollicking sea yarn came to Seattle with a famous cast.
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s resident tenor in the ’70s!
Hear Archie Drake sing Gunther–in English!
Leonie Rysanek’s unforgettable Seattle appearance!
Duesing implores the Evening Star to bear his love to the lady of his heart.
Hear the winners of our International Wagner Competitions!
Explore the 1974/75 Ring Program!
Explore the 1979 Ring Program!
The orchestra mourns the death of a fallen hero.
Revival of the 1994 production directed by Stephen Wadsworth.
“Gloomy captain, go on land; seek a faithful woman’s hand! Another seven years rush by; another woman soon must die.”
A 1982 article about Glynn Ross and Seattle’s Ring.
Explore the 1976 Ring Program!
Greer Grimsley’s first Wagner opera—complete with giant animatronic swan!
From the 2009 Ring