While Pierre Boulez was famous for his incendiary call to blow up the opera house, several of his greatest recordings are, in fact, his live opera recordings at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1976, he collaborated with French director Patrice Chéreau on the Centennial production of Der Ring Des Nibelungen. Chéreau's interpretation of the mythic opera as a biting commentary on capitalism and the Industrial Revolution polarized audiences, yet Boulez's conducting of the Ring Cycle was equally daring. Together, these revolutionary artists made the Bayreuth centennial Ring a landmark moment in operatic history. Tune in on January 9th at 9:00 PM, to hear the first installment, Das Rheingold, on Saturday Night at the Opera as part of WKCR's Pierre Boulez Memorial Broadcast. The cast features Donald McIntyre as Wotan and Hanna Schwarz as Fricka. Stepan Atamian hosts on WKCR 89.9 FM NY.