Childhood’s End

For many opera lovers in Berlin Tag der Deutschen Einheit (the public holiday in celebration of German reunification) is synonymous with a visit to the Staatsoper. Although their first première of the season has traditionally fallen on the third of October, this year the day coincided with the conclusion of their season-opening Ring cycle in the fascinating and enigmatic staging of Dmitri Tcherniakov. With masterly musical direction from Christian Thielemann and an impressive constellation of voices, both Götterdämmerung and the Siegfried of two days earlier offered a fittingly grand conclusion to one of the finest Ring cycles in recent memory.

It was, perhaps, inevitable that Siegfried would pale in comparison with the stunning Walküre of the previous weekend. Even with a conductor such as Mr Thielemann – whose command of Wagner’s long…