The Longborough Festival Opera has launched a podcast series that will feature conversations with many of opera’s biggest stars.

The company has released four episodes to this point, with three of them focused on Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

In the first, journalist Richard Bratby, Longborough Music Director Anthony Negus, and bass-baritone Paul Carey Jones talk about Wotan’s journey through the tetralogy.

In a second episode, Writer and librettist Sophie Rashbrook, soprano Lee Bisset, and historian Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough analyze the role of women in the cycle.

Finally, in the fourth installment, Opera director and librettist Sir David Pountney and Longborough’s Artistic Director Polly Graham delve into the comedic aspects of Wagner’s magnum opus.

The third installment features a conversation on “The Cunning Little Vixen” hosted by Richard Bratby.

“What we hope to achieve from this podcast is a chance to open up some of the amazing works we had programmed for 2020, and to celebrate the thinking of the artists we work with. The lockdown has been hugely challenging for the performing arts, but it has given us the opportunity to think creatively about different experiences we can still offer audiences,” Longborough Artistic Director Polly Graham noted in a press release. “We miss our audiences so much and cannot wait to connect with them again through live theatre and music. In the meantime, we hope this podcast will continue to feed their imagination. We are so grateful for their continued support at such a challenging time.”