The first opera in Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle, about a power struggle between gods and mortals over a magic ring, begins with the evil dwarf Alberich (Eric Owens) forging a ring of unimaginable power from gold pilfered from the Rhine. When it's stolen by Wotan (Bryn Terfel), the king of the gods, Alberich curses it so that it brings misery to whoever wears it.