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