Wagner on the Fringe: Richard Laing is simultaneously inspired and frustrated by a trio of non-traditional performances

Reviews of Tristan und Isolde, directed Martin-Brandis, conducted Thrift, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre, London, 2025; Der fliegende Holländer (concert perf.), conducted Thorne, Saffron Opera Group, Saffron Hall, Essex, 2025; Götterdämmerung (concert perf.), conducted Selwyn, London Opera Company, Smith Square Hall, London, 2025.

March 2026, Volume 20, Number 1, 69–73.

Regular readers of The Wagner Journal cannot have failed to notice that in recent years London has seen a plethora of productions outside the traditional opera houses. There has been Wagner in churches and temples, Wagner in concert halls and boxing venues; we have had Wagner reduced, abridged, distilled and deconstructed, and often performed to new, young audiences. Much of what we might call the ‘Wagner Fringe’ has been inspiring and thought-provoking. Yet how far can one go in reimagining an opera before it ceases to be echt Wagner?