Director Romeo Castellucci drops out of Brussels Ring Cycle halfway through because of money, time

By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press

Romeo Castellucci has dropped out of his production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Belgium’s La Monnaie theater halfway through because of what the company says is a lack of money and time. The four-part “Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)” is considered opera’s most ambitious work. Castellucci, a noted Italian director, began with “Das Rheingold” that opened in Brussels last Nov. 24 and “Die Walküre” on Jan. 21, directing and designing the sets, costumes and lighting. He had intended to use a full-length film during “Siegfried” and what the Monnaie called a “double opera and theatre project” for “Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods.”