We should be able to break this spell. Before World War II, we were a powerhouse when it came to staging Wagner and singers performing his music. Today, Prague plays Wagner, Sofia plays Wagner. Budapest has Wagner Days, where I just sang Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. And on the 150th anniversary of the world premiere, we, as a country of 40 million people, are able to perform one part of Der Ring des Nibelungen in a single institution in Poland.

When we currently discuss the threat posed by right-wing, extremist movements around the world, I say: let’s play Wagner. He described the fall of the gods. Der Ring des Nibelungen tells the consequences of Wotan’s wickedness, and its unmasking. (Pismo)