Kicking off the New Year with travels to China this week are Kim Begley and Stephen Milling for concert performances of Das Rheingold with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Performing the roles of Loge and Fafner, respectively, the concerts are on 22 & 24 January and are conducted by Jaap van Zweden.

Begley includes Loge among the most successful roles of his career having sung it on the stages of Opéra national de Paris, La Scala Milan and the Bayreuth Festival among others. The tenor’s current season includes a role debut as Edrisi in Kasper Holten’s new production of Szymanowski’s Król Roger under Sir Antonio Pappano, which marks a return to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden where his career began over 30 years ago.

One of today’s most highly-regarded Wagnerian basses, Stephen Milling sings his signature roles of Gurnemanz, König Marke and Daland regularly with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle and Christian Thielemann. This summer sees a double-debut for Milling when he joins the Bayreuth Festival as Hagen (Götterdämmerung) under Kirill Petrenko.