Cast announced for Seattle Opera's "Ring"

Seattle Opera's cast for the 2009 Wagnerian "Ring," announced Wednesday, will bring three major singers to the production for the first time: Danish tenor Stig Fogh Andersen as Siegfried, Australian tenor Stuart Skelton as Siegmund, and American soprano Janice Baird as Brünnhilde. Baird replaces soprano Jane Eaglen in that role, which was announced last month.

Conductor Robert Spano will be among the returnees, along with Greer Grimsley (Wotan), Margaret Jane Wray (Sieglinde), Richard Paul Fink (Alberich) and Stephanie Blythe (in three roles: Fricka, First Norn and Waltraute).

Baird will be making her U.S. debut as Brünnhilde, a role she has sung in numerous houses in Europe, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Opéra de Marseille. Andersen, a member of the Royal Theatre Copenhagen, has sung Siegfried in London, New York, Dresden, Munich, Berlin and several other cities. Skelton has appeared in Wagnerian roles throughout Europe, and he sang the role of Siegmund in the State Opera of South Australia's "Ring."

"With Stephen Wadsworth as director, every repetition of the 'Ring' is rehearsed as if it were a new production," general director Speight Jenkins said in a prepared statement. "In this, our third repetition of the Cycle, I decided to cast several new singers, to vary the mix extensively. I think we have a cast that will give our audiences a rewarding and new experience in the Seattle 'Ring,' and one that I hope will make the best 'Ring' we have ever presented."

Seattle Opera's "Ring" productions are so popular that they usually sell out all 12 shows in a single day, and more than a year in advance of the performances. Attendees of the last "Ring," in 2005, came from 49 states and 19 countries.

Tickets to the 2009 "Ring" will go on sale to Ring Fund donors in spring of 2008. Tickets go on sale to the public in fall of 2008. Information on the production, ticket sale dates, and how to make Ring Fund contributions, can be found at www.seattleopera.org.

The "Ring" will be presented in three cycles of the four operas. Performance dates are Aug. 9-14 (first cycle), Aug. 17-22 (second) and Aug. 25-30 (third), 2009.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com