RING Festival 2026

THE EVENT RING 2026

The Ring of the Nibelung Festival makes its grand return to the Paris Opera.

An event bringing together an exceptional cast of performers in a production by Calixto Bieito and under the musical direction of Pablo Heras-Casado.

Alongside this vast musical and theatrical odyssey of four operas, an exhibition dedicated to the Ring and a series of talks with the artistic teams and leading specialists are being offered—an invitation to discover or rediscover this mythological universe that so powerfully resonates with our own time.

Opera

Das Rheingold

Richard Wagner

Opéra Bastille

from 6 to 15 November 2026

DISCOVER
New

Opera

Die Walküre

Richard Wagner

Opéra Bastille

from 7 to 17 November 2026

DISCOVER
New

Opera

Siegfried

Richard Wagner

Opéra Bastille

from 10 to 19 November 2026

DISCOVER
New

Opera

Götterdämmerung

Richard Wagner

Opéra Bastille

from 13 to 22 November 2026

DISCOVER

As part of the new production of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Opéra Bastille, the Paris Opera is joining forces with the Bibliothèque nationale de France for an exhibition devoted to Wagner’s monumental tetralogy — a unique theatrical and musical creation, revolutionary in many respects, that continues to captivate a wide audience.

Bringing together works from the BnF’s collections, as well as from museum institutions and private collections, the exhibition explores the cultural and political context in which the Ring took root, its formal characteristics, the challenges it poses in performance, and its enduring legacy in the arts.

From October 2026 to February 2027 at the Palais Garnier, Opera Library-Museum (BnF)
Curators: Marion Mirande (Paris National Opera) and Olivier Mabille (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

Talks

Wagner: a cinematic universe

For his tetralogy, Richard Wagner conceived a theatre of his own — the Bayreuth Festspielhaus — offering staging conditions strikingly close to those of cinema, long before the invention of the seventh art.

Ever since, the film world has continually referenced the composer, revealing the dramatic potential of his music.

The revolutions of the Ring

When Wagner began conceiving his tetralogy, he took part in the revolutionary uprisings in Dresden alongside the anarchist thinker Mikhail Bakunin.

Inspired by the social and philosophical debates of the early nineteenth century, the composer went on to revolutionize opera, creating a dramatic form unlike any other.

How to stage the Ring?

A monumental work in four parts spanning over sixteen hours, The Ring of the Nibelung takes us on a journey through a series of worlds shaped by profound moral questions, where humans, gods, and fantastical beings intertwine.

Its staging represents a true artistic challenge.

The Ring: a visual music

The four scores of The Ring of the Nibelung contain around a hundred leitmotifs — thematic cells that give musical identity to characters, objects, and emotions.

These motifs and their variations contribute, alongside the libretto itself, to the development of the narrative and to its strikingly visual dimension.

Experience the festival to the fullest with RING passes!

Pass holders get to see all 4 RING operas, access to the entire cultural program linked to the Festival, and light refreshments during the first intervals.

RING 2026 passes go on sale from 12 November 2025 at noon. Individual subscribers for the 2025/26 season enjoy priority booking from 5 November 2025 at 2:30 pm.