The Kirov's production, according to a press release, is "based on Russian, Caucasian, and especially Scythian folk mythology." It was conceived by Gergiev and set designer George Tsypin and is directed by Vladimir Mirzoev and Julia Pevzner. Costumes are by Tatiana Noginowa; lighting is by Gleb Filschtinsky.

The production premiered in St. Petersburg in 2003; it will travel to the Orange Country Performing Arts Center in Southern California in October 2006.

In a statement, Gergiev said that one of his priorities at the Mariinsky has been to reintroduce operatic repertoire that had not been performed under Soviet rule, including the work of Wagner. "We had a historical obligation to revive a tradition which was long interrupted by a culture of misinformation behind the Iron Curtain," he said.

"The production," he added, "was completely developed in St. Petersburg using our knowledge, our emotions, and our ideas. In Ossetia, where I come from, our own folktales parallel the myths that inspired Wagner, so I knew we would be able to find a new visual approach to the Ring that is internationally understandable."