27.03.2026

DAVID STEFFENS | Role debut as Wotan in "Das Rheingold"

In recent years, David Steffens has established himself as a sought-after singer on the German and international opera scene, notably in demanding Wagner roles such as King Henry (Lohengrin), Fasolt / Fafner (Das Rheingold), Hunding (Die Walküre), Fafner (Siegfried), King Marke (Tristan und Isolde), Gurnemanz (Parsifal), and—as part of the Stuttgart Opera’s latest new production in early February of this year—Veit Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. In this new production, directed by painter, graphic artist, and sculptor Markus Lüpertz—who, as a visual artist, brings his own visual language, strongly influenced by archaism and monumentality, to Wagner’s universe—David Steffens can now be seen for the first time as Wotan at the Meiningen State Theater —another step toward the great Wagnerian bass-baritone roles that will form an increasingly central part of his future repertoire.

Richard Wagner created Das Rheingold amidst massive political upheavals in Europe. He conceived a story of social reordering and its endangerment by greed and the lust for power—a socially critical parable that remains relevant to this day. In it, Wagner does not merely create a saga of the gods, but a multi-layered parable about the rise of power—and about the forces that destroy it from within.

Cast

David Steffens, Wotan
John Heuzenroeder, Loge
Marianne Schechtel, Fricka
Lubov Karetnikova, Freia
Mark Hightower/Johannes Mooser, Donner
Garrett Evers, Froh
Tamta Tarielashvili, Erda
Boaz Daniel, Alberich
Tobias Glagau, Mime
Keith Klein, Fasolt
Selcuk Hakan Tiraşoğlu, Fafner
Monika Reinhard, Woglinde
Hannah Gries, Wellgunde
Julia Rutigliano, Floßhilde

GMD Killian Farrell, Musical Director
Markus Lüpertz, Director/Set Design/Costumes
Matthias Heilmann, Dramaturgy

Meininger Hofkapelle