Wagner: Die Walküre

Overview

Richard Wagner called Die Walküre the “first evening” of the Ring of the Nibelung; he called Das Rheingold the prologue or Vorabend. Musically and dramatically, we are introduced to a radically new and different world when the opening bars of Die Walküre resound. A fully developed orchestral palette of Leitmotivs paints a wild storm scene, and the curtain rises on a modest dwelling: a fully human scene that has nothing to do with the gods, dwarves and nymphs of Das Rheingold. At the same time, however, the way Die Walküre portrays radical beginnings reveals some telling reminiscences of the unfolding of Das Rheingold. Die Walküre is exciting and deeply feeling drama.

Cast

Simon O’Neill

Siegmund

John Tomlinson

Hunding

Vitalij Kowaljow

Wotan

Waltraud Meier

Sieglinde

Nina Maria Stemme

Brünnhilde

Ekaterina Gubanova

Fricka