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