Presents:
Die Walküre
Richard Wagner
19, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30 and 31 May and 3 June 2014
Chronicles of a great war
The first part of Wagner’s great mythological system is the building of Walhalla, the mansion of the gods. The second part – recounted in Die Walküre – is the evolution of human society, with its laws and taboos. The prologue to The Valkyrie shows the terrible consequences that inevitably arise in a place isolated from the world and set aside for the gods. Theft, murder and the devastation of land and culture are rampant. This opera, dominated by the horrors of war and tribal conflict and revenge, is a gloomy poem about apocalyptic prophecies and the betrayal of debased humanity, about the spread of moral corruption to an environment contaminated by the action of Man. Robert Carsen’s production is the follow-up to the first ‘day’ of his Ring Cycle. In it he presents an environmentally pessimistic vision with close affinities to Schopenhauer’s philosophy, itself the key to the evolution of Richard Wagner’s Weltanschauung.
Music drama in three acts. The first ‘day’ of the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). Libretto and music by Richard Wagner. Premiered on 26 June 1870 at the Royal Theatre in Munich. First performed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu on 25 January 1899. Most recent performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu: 7 July 2003.
The Ring of the Nibelung cycle at the Liceu.
The Ring of the Nibelung is a cycle of four musical dramas with text and music by Richard Wagner, which has its central theme the possession of a magic ring, forged by the Nibelung Alberich, which grants anyone possessing it the power to rule the world. All of its inhabitants ─ gods, men and Nibelung ─ are overcome by the desire to possess the ring, except for the protagonist: Siegfried, a hero who is free from the gregarious servitude of power and gold. “The Ring of the Nibelung” – preceded by the prelude (Das Rheingold) – is the story of the origin (Die Walküre), the glory (Siegfried) and the defeat (Götterdämmerung) of this hero. This way, Wagner wanted to create a myth ─ like the great myths of Greek civilisation ─ that was not a mere anecdote but a fable on human nature with a universal and timeless value, and he based it on mediaeval epic texts (twelfth-thirteenth centuries) such as the “Song of the Nibelung” in order to create a genuinely German mythology.
Robert Carsen, stage director of the cycle, has designed a drama far removed from grandiloquence that invites the spectator to focus on the essence of the work.
Conductor
Josep Pons
Stage direction
Robert Carsen
Scenography and Costumes
Patrick Kinmonth
Lighting
Manfred Voss
Production
Buhnen der Stadt Koln (Colonia)
Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
CAST
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| Sieglinde | Anja Kampe | 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 May, 3 Jun |
| Eva Maria Westbroek | 23, 27 and 30 May | |
| Siegmund | Klaus Florian Vogt | 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 May, 3 Jun |
| Frank Van Aken | 23, 27 and 30 May | |
| Brünnhilde | Irene Theorin | 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 May, 3 Jun |
| Catherine Foster | 23, 27 and 30 May | |
| Wotan | Albert Dohmen | 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 May, 3 Jun |
| Greer Grimsley | 23, 27 and 30 May | |
| Hunding | Eric Halfvarson | 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 May, 3 Jun |
| Ante Jerkunica | 23, 27 and 30 May | |
| Fricka | Mihoko Fujimura | 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 May, 3 Jun |
| Katarina Karnéus | 23, 27 and 30 May | |
| Helmwige | Daniela Köhler | |
| Orlinde | Maribel Ortega | |
| Gerhilde | Susana Cordón | |
| Siegrune | Kai Rüütel | |
| Waltraute | Pilar Vázquez | |
| Rossweisse | Ana Häsler | |
| Grimgerde | Anna Tobella | |
| Schwertleite | Kismara Pessatti |
Opera, My Love Magazine 