The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia opens its 2025–26 season with Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre, conducted by Daniel Harding, marking the beginning of a new, multi-season journey through the Ring des Nibelungen.
For the first time in its 123-year history, the Accademia will present a complete staged Ring cycle, a major artistic undertaking that will unfold through the 2028–29 season. It also marks the first time Harding conducts Wagner’s epic tetralogy in its entirety.
The production, directed by Vincent Huguet with scenic design by Pierre Yovanovitch, transforms the Sala Santa Cecilia at Rome’s Auditorium Parco della Musica into a theatrical stage for three performances on October 23, 25, and 27. The cast includes Michael Volle (Wotan), Miina-Liisa Värelä (Brünnhilde), Vida Miknevičiūtė (Sieglinde), Jamez McCorkle (Siegmund), Stephen Milling (Hunding), and Okka von der Damerau (Fricka), joined by an ensemble of eight Valkyries.
The project is described by the Accademia as an event of “great artistic and cultural significance,” bringing together Harding’s musical vision, Huguet’s direction, and Yovanovitch’s refined visual world. Alongside the performances, a foyer exhibition titled “Wagner in Rome” presents sketches, letters, and documents relating to the composer’s 1876 stay in the city, as well as photographs of the current production. The exhibition runs until January 31, 2026.
Harding, who became Music Director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in 2024, continues to consolidate his tenure with projects of large symphonic and operatic scale. Following Die Walküre, he and the orchestra embark on a six-city Asian tour in collaboration with Askonas Holt, performing in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Korea with soloists including Beatrice Rana, Yunchan Lim, Miina-Liisa Värelä, Klaus Florian Vogt, and Kwangchul Youn.
Subscribe to our newsletter