The story takes us the bottom of the Rhine, where the three Rhinemaidens (water nymphs) guard sacred gold. Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, snatches the gold and has made of it a magic ring that gives its owner the power to rule the world. It thus comes as no surprise that several mythical figures crave the ring, including Wotan, the King of the Gods. When, aided by Loge, demi-god of fire, Wotan succeeds in getting hold of the ring, Alberich duly curses it. In the following extensive parts of the tetralogy (Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung), the curse affects the fates of three generations of gods, demi-gods and mortals alike. In musical terms, Der Ring des Nibelungen is interconnected by leitmotifs, associated with particular characters and their actions.
Das Rheingold received its world premiere on 22 September 1869 in Munich. The Czech premiere took place on 19 December 1885 at the Estates Theatre in Prague, conducted by the 25-year-old Gustav Mahler. The new production of Das Rheingold will be created in Prague by the conductor Robert Jindra, Music Director of the National Theatre Opera, and two Slovak artists who have worked with the company on several projects: the stage director Sláva Daubnerová and the set designer Boris Kudlička.
