ADDA Simfònica Alicante performs Wagner’s ‘The Ring Without Words’

The ADDA Simfònica Alicante has opened its symphonic season at the Auditorio de la Diputación de Alicante with a performance of ‘The Ring Without Words’. This orchestral synthesis, created by Lorin Maazel in 1987, condenses Richard Wagner’s monumental 15-hour operatic tetralogy into a 75-minute piece.

Under the direction of Josep Vicent, the orchestra performed the arrangement which follows strict compositional rules: no new music was added, and the transitions rely on Wagner’s original leitmotifs to maintain the narrative flow without vocalists. The performance coincided with the 150th anniversary of the first complete cycle of the tetralogy premiered in Bayreuth.

The concert featured dynamic lighting and visual projections, including scenes from the opera and footage of the conductor and musicians, to complement the purely orchestral experience.