Wagner’s Ring: Forging an Epic

January 29 through April 17, 2016

In 1848 Richard Wagner (1813–1883) began work on what eventually would become his monumental cycle of four music dramas, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). It would be twenty-six years before his masterpiece was fully completed in November 1874.

Wagner's Ring: Forging an Epic explores the challenging creation of Wagner’s epic, and the staging of its 1876 premiere in Bayreuth and its 1889 American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The exhibition includes rare music manuscripts, personal letters, books, costumes and stage designs, photographs, and historical artifacts. A number of the items are on loan from the Richard Wagner Museum in Bayreuth and have never before been on public display. Additional material comes from the Morgan’s music holdings, the Metropolitan Opera Archives, Columbia University, and from several private collections.

Read more:

List of cast members

Timeline for Wagner's Ring: Forging an Epic

Lead funding for this exhibition is generously provided by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Charles E. Pierce, Jr. Fund for Exhibitions.

Selected images

Rogelio de Egusquiza Barrena (1845– 1915), Richard Wagner, 1813-1883. Etching, aquatint, and drypoint after an 1871 photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl, Munich. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Rogelio de Egusquiza Barrena (1845–1915), Richard Wagner, 1813–1883, 1883. Etching, aquatint, and drypoint after an 1871 photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl, Munich. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Richard Wagner (1813–1883), Der Ring des Nibelungen [libretto], Zurich: E. Kiesling, 1853. The Dannie and Hettie Heineman Collection, Gift of the Heineman Foundation, 1977. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Richard Wagner (1813–1883), Letter to Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein including the closing measures of Das Rheingold, signed and dated Zurich, January 16, 1854. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 1968. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Richard Wagner (1813–1883), Das Rheingold, Mainz: Schott, 1873. First edition, full score. James Fuld Music Collection, 2008. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Ferdinand Piloty the Younger (1828–1895), King Ludwig II in Bavarian general's uniform and coronation mantle, 1865. Reproduction. bpk, Berlin /Schloss Herrenchiemsee, Germany / Art Resource, NY.

Carl Emil Doepler (1824–1905), Costume design for Brünnhilde, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Figurinen, Berlin: Berliner Kunstdruck- und Verlags-Anstalt, 1889, Chromolithograph. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Carl Emil Doepler (1824–1905), Costume design for Ortlinde, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Figurinen, Berlin: Berliner Kunstdruck- und Verlags-Anstalt, 1889, Chromolithograph. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Carl Emil Doepler (1824–1905), Costume design for Rossweisse, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Figurinen, Berlin: Berliner Kunstdruck- und Verlags-Anstalt, 1889, Chromolithograph. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Carl Emil Doepler (1824–1905), Costume design for Helmwise, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Figurinen, Berlin: Berliner Kunstdruck- und Verlags-Anstalt, 1889, Chromolithograph. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Carl Emil Doepler (1824–1905), Costume design for Waltraut, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Figurinen, Berlin: Berliner Kunstdruck- und Verlags-Anstalt, 1889, Chromolithograph. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Carl Emil Doepler (1824–1905), Costume design for Schwertlinde, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Figurinen, Berlin: Berliner Kunstdruck- und Verlags-Anstalt, 1889, Chromolithograph. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Joseph Hoffmann (1831–1904), Photograph of stage design for Das Rheingold, scene I. Vienna: V. Angerer, 1878?. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 1968. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Joseph Hoffmann (1831–1904), Photograph of stage design for Die Walküre, act 1. Vienna: V. Angerer, 1878?. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 1968. The Morgan Library & Museum

Joseph Hoffmann (1831–1904), Photograph of stage design for Siegfried, act 1. Vienna: V. Angerer, 1878?. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 1968. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Joseph Hoffmann (1831–1904), Photograph of stage design for Siegfried, act 2. Vienna: V. Angerer, 1878?. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 1968. The Morgan Library & Museum.

“The Wagner Festival at Bayreuth – Exterior of the Theatre,” The Graphic, August 12, 1876. Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987. The Morgan Library & Museum.

André Gill (1840–1885), “Richard Wagner” (caricature) in L’Éclipse, April 18, 1869. Gift of Hester Diamond, 2012. The Morgan Library & Museum.

Franz Betz as Wotan in Die Walküre. Bayreuth production. Photograph by J. Albert, Munich, 1876. Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Lilli Lehmann as Woglinde in Das Rheingold. Bayreuth production. Photograph by J. Albert, Munich, 1876. Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Georg Unger as Siegfried in Siegfried. Bayreuth production. Photograph by J. Albert, Munich, 1876. Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Amalie Materna (with Grane) as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre. Bayreuth production. Photograph by J. Albert, Munich, 1876. Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Olive Fremstad as Brünnhilde. New York Production. Photograph by White Studios, New York. Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Brünnhilde costume for Die Walküre, February 9, 1911, worn by Olive Fremstad. Metropolitan Opera, New York. Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Anton Seidl (1850–1898), Photograph by Falk, New York. Metropolitan Opera Archives.