A message from Edmonton Opera:
If you like sweeping sagas that transport you to another world, but also want to be close enough to feel the human side of all the drama, Edmonton Opera's final show of the season is for you.
"It's kind of like The Lord of the Rings," artistic director Joel Ivany said of Siegfried, which comes to the Maclab Theatre at the Citadel on May 25, 27, 29, and 31. The opera "carries all the heavy epicness of what opera can be," he added, but this production will deliver it in an accessible, intimate way.
Richard Wagner composed four operas for the Ring Cycle, a bombastic series dealing with gods and mortals. Edmonton Opera staged the first two — Das Rheingold and Die Walküre — in previous seasons. Siegfried picks up where the last chapter left off. "It's a bit of a cliffhanger, and this opera carries on the story," Ivany said.
The title character is the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, whom we met in Die Walküre. Now grown, Siegfried sets off to discover where he comes from and what kind of person he wants to be. Along the way, he reforges his father's sword, confronts a dragon, and awakens the sleeping Brünnhilde, who the previous installment left atop a mountain, surrounded by a ring of fire.
Some of the music heard in Die Walküre is woven back into the score, giving returning audiences familiar musical threads to follow as the saga continues. But it's also a story that can be enjoyed on its own. And though it is sung in German, English surtitles make it easy to follow the action.
Wagner's operas traditionally demand productions on a massive scale. This one takes a different approach, thanks to the Maclab Theatre's attributes. Rather than watching from rows back in a large auditorium, the audience sits close to the performers, bringing the full force of Wagner's music into immediate range.
"It's a unique experience to hear opera in that space, in the round," Ivany said. "If you're curious about the grandness of opera, but in a much more intimate experience, be sure to check it out."
Siegfried is the final show of Edmonton Opera's current season. Next up is Opera Al Fresco on Aug. 26, the popular end-of-summer tradition that brings music to the University of Alberta Botanic Gardens. And the 2026-27 season will bring The Barber of Seville and The Magic Flute back to Edmonton.
But first, see how fate is forged in fire with Siegfried.