Image from the Melbourne Ring website.
Just how many times will the Ring of the Nibelung be performed during Wagner's bicentennial year? I have been making a count, and here's what I've come up with: at least forty-one performances of the complete cycle, by twenty companies, plus three abridged cycles in Dijon. In addition, the Teatro Massimo, in Palermo, will present the four operas of the Ring over the course of 2013. In all, twenty-two different productions of the cycle will be seen complete, and there may be others yet to be announced. Quite a few companies will be offering individual works from the cycle; I won't attempt to list them. (Wagner Opera and Wagner Werkstatt have good general calendars.) It would be wonderful if some wealthy lunatic attempted to see each of these cycles in succession, but it can't be done.
Bayerische Staatsoper: Jan. 5-13, Jan. 23-27, July 13-18
Frankfurt Opera: Jan. 25 - Feb. 3, Feb. 6-13
Darmstadt Opera: Jan. 26 - Feb. 3, May 4-9
Halle / Ludwigshafen: March 3-9, April 21-27
Karlsruhe Opera: March 27 - April 1
Berlin Staatsoper: April 4-10, April 13-21, July 22-28 (at the Proms), Sept. 21-29
Metropolitan Opera: April 6-23, April 25 - May 2, May 4-11
Wiener Staatsoper: May 12-22
Mannheim Opera: May 22-31, June 7-16, June 28 - July 7
Hamburg Staatsoper: May 26 - June 2
Latvian National Opera, Riga: June 4-9
Longborough Festival Opera: June 16-22, June 26 - July 2, July 6-12
La Scala: June 17-22, 24-29
Paris Opéra: June 18-26
Bayreuther Festspiele: July 26-31, Aug. 14-19, Aug. 22-27
Seattle Opera: Aug. 4-9, 12-17, 20-25
Lucerne Festival: Aug. 30 - Sept. 4 (in concert)
Deutsche Oper, Berlin: Sept. 21-29
Mariinsky Theater: September (dates to be announced)
Dijon Opéra: Oct. 5-15 (three cycles, abridged)
Opera Australia, Melbourne: Nov. 18-25, Nov. 27 - Dec. 4, Dec. 6-13
