Ringside tickets: Wagner’s Ring Cycle, a series of four epic operas, to be shown at York Hall boxing venue
Bethnal Green’s York Hall, more commonly used for boxing matches and school exams, to show Wagner’s Ring Cycle, bringing affordable opera to East Enders.
York Hall has turned its hand to many things over the years, from exam hall, boxing, Mexican wrestling to Turkish baths, but never opera. Until now.
This February, Regents Opera will be turning York Hall into an opera house, of sorts, and putting on all four parts of Wagner’s gargantuan Ring series.
German composer Richard Wagner’s Ring, or to be more correct Der Ring des Nibelungen, consists of four parts – Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegried and Götterdämmerung. Each is so long they are considered individual operas and played on different days.
Wagner worked on this series of operas, which total about 16 hours of music, for 26 years, finally completing them in 1874.
Producing the full ‘cycle’ – the cycle is what’s known as the four operas within the overarching work – is such a demanding performance on both a practical and financial level, that even the largest and most established opera houses frequently fail to show the final, and longest, part.
The bass player says it’s the most demanding gig he’s ever had and he’s in the gym nearly every morning to build stamina for this performance.
This will be the only performance of all four acts of the Ring to be put on in the UK in 2025, so expect audiences from far and wide to make their way past the ticket counter for the swimming pool and through the swing doors to the main hall to take their ringside seats.
For those unfamiliar with Wagner, he’s known for his dramatic, intense and often ominous music. No pretty Bach lullabies or Mozart nocturnes here. If you do an Internet search for Wagner’s Rise of the Valkyries, you are likely to recognise it, and have a good idea of Wagner’s signature style. Think Star Wars. The famous Valkyries riff is what you’ll hear through all four parts of the Ring cycle.
If you are new to opera, we recommend the first one. Das Rheingold is the shortest, running for 2.5 hours with no interval. The other three are about five hours long, give or take 20 minutes, including two intervals.
Historically, opera has been viewed as the preserve of the upper classes. If you were going to see the Ring cycle at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, you would have to dig out your ballgown or black tie and shell out a big bag of sand; in 2011, the tickets for the Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House went for £1,000.
In Bethnal Green, come as you are, and the ticket for the full cycle of four operas is a fraction of the price, ranging from £165 to £295 for the seats closest to the action. And when we say close, we mean 15 feet from the performers. If you want to book just one of the acts, seats cost from £30 to £115.
You don’t have to know much about the plot to appreciate the virtuosity of the singers and musicians, but essentially it’s about a magic ring stolen from a dwarf. The programme will tell you the rest.
The production is the brainchild of fringe opera company Regents Opera, a touring group that wants to bring opera to new audiences. Conductor and music arranger Ben Woodward and director Caroline Staunton wanted to create a stripped-back version of the Ring Cycle that was more achievable and could be hosted in smaller, more intimate venues.
Woodward has reduced the orchestra from the usual 100 players to just 22, rearranging the score to fit. Having a smaller orchestra means the orchestra can fit into smaller stages in more intimate venues.
‘Where Wagner had three wind instruments, I have one’ explains Woodward. ‘And there’s only one double bass player, which means he has to play nearly all the time’.
Conversely, it also means the orchestra isn’t too noisy for smaller venues. York Hall is a third of the size of the Royal Opera House, where a larger orchestra is needed to create greater decibels, and singers have learned how to project their voices to the distant audience.
It also means you are much, much closer to the singers than in traditional opera.
‘The interesting thing in York Hall is that it is so close, in a Netflix kind of way’ says Woodward. ‘You can see the details of the singers’ faces, their emotions as they throw their hearts on the stage’.
Woodward’s initial concern had been the acoustics of a space that wasn’t designed for opera, but his fears were quickly allayed. The combination of wood in this Art Deco building and the draping they’ve added means ‘the acoustics are crystal clear. It really is quite magical.’
Director Caroline Staunton has redesigned the traditional opera setting to be performed completely in the round. Normally an orchestra pit separates the audience from the singers on the main stage. At York Hall, the orchestra will be up on the stage at the back of the building, and the audience will sit in the main hall surrounding the singers’ podium on three sides.
‘The challenge is showing everyone everything’ says Staunton. ‘So we’ve designed a series of ‘special moments’ for each part of the audience to enjoy in turn.’
Like many good things at the moment, the idea for a paired-back, intimate version of Wagner’s Ring Cycle took shape during the pandemic. Forced by lockdown restrictions, Staunton and Woodward put on an opera in a wine bar with only four musicians and six audience members allowed in the space. Once one performance was completed, another six people were allowed in for the next showing. It had to be carefully curated for it to succeed.
York Hall is magical and works beautifully for this opera. It’s a godsend of a venue.
ben woodward
‘Opera is not for the elite. In fact, it’s the opposite of elite’ says Staunton, who falls over her words in excitement when talking about making opera more accessible. ‘It’s a story-telling medium; just words, music and singing. It’s the most human activity.’
Like most operas nowadays surtitles, shown above the stage, translate the singing from German into English.
Both Staunton and Woodward are enamoured with the venue. ‘It’s a beautiful Art Deco buidling and it’s lovely to be working with people coming and going around us to get to the swimming pool,’ says Staunton.
‘York Hall is magical and works beautifully for this opera. It’s a godsend of a venue.’ says Woodward, who would happily use the space for more operas.
York Hall’s cheap-as-chips bar will be open for lager and crisps, but this will also be complemented by heartier fare, that can be pre-booked, laid on by Hackney Wick’s Burnt Umber Brasserie, to fuel you through the longer performances.
‘Even if you know and like opera, this experience will blow your mind, as it’s so different and exciting,’ says Staunton. ‘If you don’t know it, it’s the best introduction you could have to opera in terms of feeling that it’s in your grasp – and being done especially for you’.
This indefatigable troop of singers and musicians is performing all four parts of the opera not just once but twice. So if you’re away one week, you can binge the box set of the Ring Cycle the next instead. Find event information about Wagner’s Ring Cycle Opera at York Hall.
Photography by Steve Gregson.
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The Royal Opera House is also come as you are. The idea that you need a ballgown or black tie is utter nonsense. For most performances there are a very wide variety of ticket prices, with reasonably priced options in the Amphitheatre.