Not an original observation, I know, but Wagnerites are a strange breed. Overwhelmingly male and generally solitary, they turn up at every Wagner event to compare and contrast performances and productions with every one they have seen before. They were certainly out in force here, eager to add the completion of another Ring cycle to their lists.

Any opera-goer, Wagnerite or not, should try to get tickets for one of Scottish Opera's cycles, for these stagings by Tim Albery with designs by Hildegard Bechtler are wonderfully rewarding, full of wit as well as psychological insight. Dramatically, at least, the Götterdämmerung is the finest of the four. Every stage picture is ravishingly beautiful, and Albery has not attempted to impose big ideas or over-arching concepts on the tetralogy. Instead he has peopled it with instantly recognisable contemporary archetypes, who, though they may be dealing with issues of cosmic importance, act out the emotional struggles and power plays of everyday life.

Whether it be the Three Norns in slinky gowns relating what has happened and what is still to unfold, or Hagen addressing his besuited vassals as if they were reps at a boozy sales conference, or the infinitely sad sight of the Rhinemaidens, with matching shoes and handbags, whiling away the hours in a singles bar, every image has point and resonance. It connects today with Wagner's mythic past, as the final image, after Brünnhilde has ignited Siegfried's pyre and brought down the gods, makes stunningly clear.

It is a major dramatic achievement, wonderfully acted, and in many ways a major musical one, too. Richard Armstrong's command of the huge score is fleet and theatrical. The way the very first chord is punched out gives the clue to all that is to follow, and he never allows the tension to slacken. The orchestral playing is superb. Vocally it is more variable: the rather baritonal Siegfried, Matthew Elton Thomas, standing in for the ailing Graham Sanders, does not last the pace, but Elizabeth Byrne's Brünnhilde certainly makes up in energy and commitment what she lacks in depth of tone. There is a suavely menacing Hagen from Mats Almgren, a troubled Gunther from Peter Savidge, and a wonderfully vivid Waltraute from Jane Irwin. All those performances will deepen as familiarity grows; but already the result is far more than the sum of the parts.

· Further performances on Wednesday and Saturday. Box office: 0131-529 6000.