On 9th November 2018, Naxos releases Götterdämmerung, the fourth and final opera of Wagner’s mighty Ring Cycle, on CD, audio Blu-ray and digital formats. The release of this album concludes a three-year journey started in January 2015 which has seen the Hong Kong Philharmonic, under their dynamic Music Director Jaap van Zweden, record Der Ring des Nibelungen over four successive seasons.
The highly acclaimed project features an all-star international Wagner cast, led by soprano Gun-Brit Barkmin in her debut as Brünnhilde, tenor Daniel Brenna as Siegfried, bass-baritone Shenyang as Gunther, bass Eric Halfvarson as Hagen, soprano Amanda Majeski as Gutrune and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Waltraute, with the Bamberg Symphony Chorus, Latvian State Choir and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus.
Simultaneously, Naxos releases the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen, as a special boxed set. Containing 14 CDs, the box also features a USB card loaded with extra content, including the libretti to all four operas, concert photos and behind-the-scenes video.
“I’m especially proud of the [Hong Kong Philharmonic] Orchestra after these last four years.
It was a long road, but a wonderful road. And I think the orchestra got better and better, playing this music, especially by
not only learning their own parts, but learning the parts around them – what’s going on in the orchestra.”
Jaap van Zweden