Das Rheingold

Das Rheingold is the prologue to Richard Wagner's monumental four-part cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, drawing the audience into a mythological world where the branches of the World Ash Tree hold together the realm of the gods, the land of the giants, the earth with the river Rhine, and the underground kingdom of the Nibelungs. At the heart of the story is the theft of the Rhine's gold by the dwarf Alberich, who renounces love to forge a ring of absolute power — an act that sets off a curse befalling everyone who possesses the ring, including the god Wotan. Director Plamen Kartalov's staging at Sofia Opera combines set design by Hans Kudlich, costumes by Hristiyanka Mihaleva-Zorbalieva and multimedia elements, with students of the National School of Stage Arts also performing.