Deprived of its scenic and vocal dimensions, the score—albeit in condensed form—reveals its orchestral narrative power and brings to light the extraordinary thematic architecture of the Ring and its myth.

Florence, 10 February 2026 - Friday, 13 February 2026 at 8:00 p.m., in the Teatro’s Sala Grande, Maestro Teodor Currentzis, at the helm of the musicAeterna Orchestra - the ensemble he founded in 2004 and which has, in just a few years, become a point of reference on the symphonic scene - makes his Florentine debut in a new event of the Maggio’s symphonic season.

On the programme is a fascinating re-reading of Wagnerian musical theatre: the performance of Der Ring ohne Worte, the symphonic synthesis of Richard Wagner’s monumental tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, as conceived by Lorin Maazel. A vast orchestral fresco which, without the aid of words, conveys the monumental architecture of the Ring, condensing its key moments into a single, unified narrative arc of great expressive power.

The request to “transform” Wagner’s celebrated cycle into a symphonic synthesis was made to Maazel by the record label Telarc in 1987 and was released the following year. The conductor regarded the proposal as a fascinating challenge and worked on it in accordance with a number of principles he considered indispensable. The synthesis had to be uninterrupted and in chronological order - beginning with the opening notes of Das Rheingold and ending with the final chord of Götterdämmerung - and all the notes used had to be exclusively those written by Wagner himself. At the conclusion of this version, which is considered a fully fledged score in its own right, Maazel stated: “I hope that this performance will convey, more fully and albeit in a different form, the magic of this monumental work to devotees of the Ring and to a new audience of music lovers.”

Through a skilful selection and re-orchestration of the most emblematic pages of the four Wagnerian days - Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung - Maazel constructed a symphonic journey capable of enhancing the power of Wagner’s language, bringing to the fore the network of leitmotifs, the dramatic tension, and the orchestra’s rich timbral palette.

The encounter between this score and the interpretative vision of Teodor Currentzis-renowned for his ability to combine philological rigor with theatrical intensity-offers a musical experience of powerful emotional impact. With musicAeterna, Currentzis approaches the German Romantic repertoire with an intense and unconventional outlook, capable of revealing new sonic and dramaturgical perspectives.

The concert forms part of the symphonic programming of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, offering audiences the opportunity to hear a rare and evocative Wagnerian interpretation.