In Wagner’s Ring Cycle, which opera opens the four-part Norse-inspired drama?

Das Rheingold opens Richard Wagner’s four-part Ring Cycle. Wagner called it a Vorabend, or preliminary evening, rather than simply the first numbered opera in the sequence.

The drama begins with the Rhinemaidens guarding the Rhine gold. Alberich renounces love, steals the gold, and forges a ring that grants power. The gods then become entangled in contracts, theft, and the building of Valhalla. The opera establishes objects and conflicts that drive the later parts of the cycle.

The remaining dramas are Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. Wagner based the cycle on a mixture of Norse and Germanic legendary material, including figures and episodes related to the Poetic Edda and the Völsunga saga.

Das Rheingold is often described as an opera, although its continuous structure differs from the more conventionally divided works that follow. Its title means “The Rhine Gold,” referring to the treasure from which the ring is made.