Washington National Opera Closes Out Season with THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG Tonight

Washington National Opera (WNO) concludes its landmark 60th anniversary season with its first complete presentation of Richard Wagner's four-part The Ring of the Nibelung, perhaps the most challenging production to mount in all of opera. Three cycles of Wagner's epic will be presented from tonight, April 30, to May 22, 2016 in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

These performances will be the first time the company has presented The Ring in complete cycles in its history, and they are the only complete cycles to be presented in North America in 2016. Conceived and directed by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and with the WNO Orchestra led by WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin, the production brings together an internationally renowned cast, including British soprano Catherine Foster (Brünnhilde, Cycles I & II), Swedish soprano Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde, Cycle III), American tenor Daniel Brenna (Siegfried), American bass-baritone Alan Held (Wotan/The Wanderer), and many other of today's great Wagnerian singers.