The productions of the “Wagner in Budapest” Opera Festival established a new style of opera performance which, building on the characteristics and outstanding acoustics of the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, goes far beyond the world of ‘semi-staging’. The highlight of the ‘Hungarian Bayreuth’, brought to life every year since 2006, is the performance of Wagner’s entire tetralogy, the creative and philosophical background of which this documentary film explores. Artistic director of the festival Ádám Fischer professes in the film: “If we find a form with which we can make the music understood, if we can transmit it in the language in which the audience has been socialised, then Wagner’s work is bound to captivate ...” Ádám Fischer invited director Hartmut Schörghofer to stage Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), the monumental music drama spanning the course of four evenings because - as he puts it - “a director was needed who is able to translate the thoughts inherent in the work into images.” The director does not employ the usual operatic clichés and tools; instead, he enlists the help of related genres. Using film projection, shadow play, dancers and puppets as well as a multi-purpose decoration wall he conjures the fantastic scenes of the mythological story. In the film, the creators of the production Ádám Fischer and Hartmut Schörghofer, as well as world-famous singers talk about Wagner's great masterpiece, the unique solutions of the special production of the Palace of Arts, and the principles and thoughts underlying the performance. Editor-reporter: Judit Várbíró Cinematographer: László Reich Director: László G. Kecskés

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