MILAN — Leading international opera houses are mounting new productions of Wagner’s mythic, four-part “Ring” cycle to mark the 150th anniversary of its 1876 premiere. One of the most eagerly-anticipated was the one directed by Sir David McVicar, performed twice at La Scala earlier this month (March 2026). I attended the second complete cycle, conducted by Simone Young.

McVicar’s production is traditional, tasteful, and direct, with imaginative touches both in the scenic design and in specific decisions regarding the staging. The Scottish director lets the epic saga unfold naturally, and creates compelling theatre with nuanced interactions between characters. The stage is dominated with slowly rotating sculptures of gigantic hands, which cradle some characters, and a face-shaped rock, as well as aboriginal masks perched on top of immense archaic poles, and a tangled forest of trees. The director artfully deploys choreographic touches at certain key points in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, the scene with the Wood Bird in Siegfried, the Hall of the Gibichungs scene in Act II of Götterdämmerung, and at the very end of the tetralogy. These emerge smoothly from the dramatic contexts, imparting freshness and vibrancy to McVicar’s vision, even if occasionally they run counter to Wagner’s text (the scene between Siegfried and the Wood Bird in Act Two of Siegfried takes place against a nighttime background, while Siegfried sings “Already the sun is high in the sky; its eye stares out of limpid blue, steep rays fall on my head’s crown”.)

Projections suggest fire and the glittering gold in the Rhine. The gods, Rhine maidens and Nibelung dwarfs appear in conventional garb, but the Valkyries have punk-like haircuts. Extras ride metallic outlines of horses around the stage, another choreographic touch.
There isn’t excessive movement amongst the cast as they confront one another. McVicar is more interested in telling the story clearly, eschewing political messaging or updating, and ensuring that the singers convey their roles with vivid characterizations. The text is delivered clearly and the singers project strongly, never swamped by the huge orchestra. The director wants Wagner’s music and drama to unfold without needless distractions. His capacity to elicit formidable ensemble dynamics reaches its peak in Act II of Götterdämmerung, at the end of which singers, dancers and the thunderous La Scala chorus, as the bellicose vassals, perform with electrifying cohesion and impact.

The scheduled cast included some renowned Wagnerians, but there were also substitutions from the first cycle, which had been conducted by Alexander Soddy. Most notably, we heard a new Wotan, the Australian bass-baritone Derek Welton, standing in for the veteran Michael Volle. Welton is lean and nearly tall enough to sing the giants, Fafner and Fasolt, without stilts. He has an uncommonly youthful appearance and demeanor for the king of the gods. Yet he sang with godlike authority and beauty of sound. As his capacity to convey anguish and gravitas continues to develop, he could well emerge as an important exponent of this key role. (Nicholas Brownlee was a steady Wotan in Das Rheingold.)

Klaus Florian Vogt made a compelling Siegfried, applying his distinctive lyrical timbre with ardor and strength, commanding the stage confidently as the youthful hero. Camilla Nylund was a valiant and incisive Brünnhilde, resourcefully summoning columns of sound in the last three music dramas.

Another substitute was Latvian soprano Vida Mikneviciute, whose Sieglinde showcased a penetrating timbre and lithe physicality. David Butt Philip, the other one of the incestuous Volsung twins, delivered a comparatively light Siegmund. Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke was a lively Mime, the putative foster parent of Siegfried. Christa Mayer intoned Erda’s sage commentary with authority, and also substituted as Waltraute in Gotterdammerung, vividly hurling wrath at Brünnhilde as she begged her sister to return the ring. She also doubled as the First Norn in Gotterdammerung.

Olafur Sigurdarson furiously delivered dwarf Alberich’s curse in Das Rheingold. Gunther Groissböck portrayed both a menacing Hunding in Walküre and murderous Hagen in Götterdämmerung. Russell Braun conveyed the intrinsic weakness of Gunther, whose allegiance to Hagen is complicated by his unease at the plan to kill Siegfried.

The “Ring” drama is played out most fully in the orchestra pit. Simone Young, a Wagnerian of wide experience and the first woman to conduct the complete “Ring” cycle in Bayreuth, paced the music with assurance, never letting it lose impetus. She understands the shape of the long acts, and timed the dramatic moments with flair. Her tempi are quick but not slapdash. The Australian conductor shaped each act intelligently, whether ramping up the drama in such scenes as the descent into the Nibelungs’ lair in Das Rheingold, or drawing emotional resonance in the heartbreaking scene between Wotan and Brünnhilde at the conclusion of Die Walküre.

The orchestral playing was impressive, with ultra-smooth string tone (violas and cellos, crucially important in the Ring, shape their lines warmly), and plaintive woodwind solos. Except for the odd bobble, the brass provided their own heroics, as in the resplendently powerful Funeral March of Gotterdammerung.

This “Ring” promises to be etched in the annals of the cycle’s distinguished history at La Scala.