LA Opera to stage Wagner's Ring to boost city's image

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Opera is to stage its first Ring cycle of four classic Wagnerian operas, thanks in part to a US$6 million ($9.36 million) gift from businessman Eli Broad who wants to boost the city as cultural destination.

LA Opera general director Placido Domingo told a news conference on Wednesday the gift would make the long-cherished goal of staging all four operas in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen a reality.

Wagner's epic cycle -- consisting of the operas Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung -- presents huge artistic and financial challenges but draws opera lovers from around the world wherever it is produced.

Broad, founder-chairman of financial services company SunAmerica and leader of a drive to put Los Angeles on the world's artistic map, said he hoped the production would increase the city's standing.

"We have to do a better job of attracting cultural tourists to Los Angeles. We expect Los Angeles Opera's Ring will be a worldwide event and that people will flock to Los Angeles to see it," Broad said.

Domingo said dates and details would be announced at the end of the month but the first opera in the cycle is not expected to be staged for at least two years.

The 65-year-old tenor, who has been associated with Los Angeles Opera since its launch in 1986, said he might sing the role of Siegmund in Die Walkure.

"If I am still singing by then, I would certainly love to do it," he said.

- REUTERS