Cycles of History: Dominic McHugh enjoys a meticulously researched chronicle of the ‘Ring’ at Covent Garden

In recent years, an increasing focus on aspects of performance and production has brought a valuable new slant to opera studies. After all, our ideas and beliefs about what opera means are never more directly expressed than when works are brought to the stage. John Snelson’s elegantly presented and lovingly researched history of Wagner’s Ring at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is in many ways the perfect model of this approach.