Finland - Mikki Kunttu brought Richard Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, also known as the Ring tetralogy, to a conclusion at the Finnish National Opera with the performance of the monumental, nearly six-hour-long Götterdämmerung featuring Claypaky Xtylos, the world’s first laser-based beam lighting fixture.
The first instalment of The Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold, was performed at the Finnish National Opera in August and September 2019. The Covid pandemic delayed the second opera, Die Walkure, until autumn 2022, with performances of Siegfried following in March and April 2023. Over these past years, The Ring played to full houses. Its visual aspect and direction, the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera, and the soloists’ world-class singing have been acclaimed by audiences and critics.
The Ring’s lighting, sets and visuals were designed by Mikki Kunttu, a Finnish lighting and set designer. He has worked mainly in the field of dance, but also in theater, popular music, opera, television and industrial arts. Kunttu has partnered with many prominent dance artists and groups from Finland and abroad and has collaborated repeatedly with the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and The Boston Ballet.
Kunttu chose Claypaky Xtylos fixtures for their laser light source. “Xtylos delivered the laser-type light beam that I wanted for visual effects,” he says.
The Xtylos was first shown in the US at LDI 2019 and has generated a lot of excitement in the entertainment lighting world.
For Götterdämmerung, Kunttu positioned the Xtylos on dollies on the floor where they proved to be “excellent fixtures for this application” he reports. The Xtylos were provided by rental company Woodlite Sweden AB.
Götterdämmerung premiered 17 May and ran from 22 May to 4 June. Finnish Broadcasting company Yle livestreamed the opera on the Finnish National Opera and Ballet’s global Stage24 platform where the earlier instalments of The Ring Cycle are also available for viewing.
