Bryn Terfel and Philip Langridge star in a Royal Opera production of Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, the first staging seen on British TV for 15 years. This epic four-part saga of gods and gold, death and transfiguring love begins when a magical ring is stolen by greedy Alberich the dwarf.
Antonio Pappano conducts, while Keith Warner directs the stage production. Michael Portillo is in London's Covent Garden to set the scene.
Part two, Wagner's Ring - The Valkyrie, is tomorrow at 5.15pm.
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(Michael Portillo waxes lyrical: page 37)