Grange Park Opera (GPO) has announced its new Ring Cycle, starting in 2026, will be a partnership with the Orchestra of English National Opera.
The five-year orchestral partnership will start with Das Rheingold, then Die Walküre (2027), Siegfried (2028) and Götterdämmerung (2029), before an entire Ring Cycle in 2030.
The agreement will also see the Orchestra of ENO performing an additional opera each summer season, with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Verdi’s Don Carlo and Otello. This follows the orchestra brought in for this season’s Tchaikovsky opera Mazeppa.
The move will be a major benefit to ENO but raises an eye brow over the role of the Gascoigne Orchestra, which played Tristan and Isolde at Grange Park Opera in 2023.
Grange Park Opera’s Ring Cycle will be directed and designed by Charles Edwards, who staged Tristan und Isolde for the Surrey company in 2023. Conductors for the Cycle will include Anthony Negus, one of the leading Wagnerian exponents of our day, and his protege Harry Sever.
The cast features bass-baritone James Rutherford (Wotan), mezzo soprano Christine Rice (Fricka), baritone David Stout (Alberich), bass Matthew Rose (Fasolt) and one of today’s Rachel Nicholls (Freia & Brunnhilde). Nicholls recently sang the role with English National Opera’s own Ring Cycle and sang Isolde in 2023 with the company. Anthony Negus is artistic director of Longborough Opera which has recently concluded its own Ring Cycle.
Founder of Grange Park Opera, Wasfi Kani, said, “Members of the Orchestra of English National Opera are sensational musicians with opera in their bones. We are very lucky to have them grace our orchestra pit with their dynamism and deep understanding of opera”. The company said this means GPO will be the UK’s only summer season with a full 70-strong opera orchestra.
Jenny Mollica, Chief Executive Officer of English National Opera, said, “Following the success of Mazeppa this summer, we are delighted to be continuing our orchestral partnership with Grange Park Opera for their Ring Cycle. The Orchestra of ENO are a group of highly versatile and acclaimed musicians, and we look forward to continuing to showcase their talent throughout the summer season with this exciting new partnership.”
Das Rheingold has a running time of 150 minutes (2.5 hours). The performance on Sun 5 July will have a long interval roughly halfway through. The other performances are played straight through.
Das Rheingold 2026 dates:
Sun 14 June 5pm
Sat 20 June 5pm
Fri 26 June 5pm
Sun 5 July 5pm (with long interval)
Fri 10 July 5pm
tickets are now on sale for Das Rheingold:
https://grangeparkopera.co.uk/the-ring-cycle-2026-2030
Main image: Orchestra of English National Opera.
picture Richard Hubert Smith
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