Frank Castorf revolutionised German-language theatre in the post-Berlin Wall era, bringing to the stage intellectual and political acuteness, brash references and a not infrequent use of crude humour. He brought these qualities to the Bayreuth Festival where his production of the Ring ran from 2013 to 2017. This 2016 recording of Das Rheingold captures Marek Janowski's festival debut as conductor of this unique production, in which Castorf replaces the Rheingold with oil as the central commodity in a pre-capitalist society. The first night of the Ring cycle begins at a gas station off of Route 66, the main road connecting the East and West coasts of the USA, that played an important role in commerce in the 1920s.
as Wotan
as Donner
as Froh
as Loge
as Fricka
as Freia
as Erda
as Alberich
as Mime
as Fasolt
as Fafner
as Woglinde
as Wellgunde
as Floßhilde
