Die Walküre
Richard Wagner 1813-1883
Libretto by the composer
First performed June 26th 1870, Königliches Hof- und Nationaltheater, Munich
First performance as part of the Ring des Nibelungen August 14th 1876
Sung in German with surtitles
Duration: c. 5 hrs, including two intervals
Live recording and DVD available – OehmsClassics
Sunday 10th July 2016 Start5:00 pm Venue: Opera House
The world ash tree, from which Wotan broke his spear, is shown as a tree stump, a portent of things to come. The tree’s rings remind us of time that has past and the finite nature of all life. Finality or intermediate phase? Pause in war, armistice, lull before the storm? The Valkyries transform fallen heroes into machines of death. Brutalization has spread. Even the God becomes part of the atrocity, killing his own son and destroying his daughter’s existence. After the cool, mystic blue of the Rheingold set more natural colors now come into play, leading the way to more real, more human dimensions. The god created hardship, but he turns himself to those seeking help. Although the relationships are desolate and the situation dismal, it is not hopeless. A way out is hinted at…
FROM NOTES BY THE STAGE DESIGNER JENS KILIAN ABOUT DIE WALKÜRE
GALLERY
CAST
Conductor Sebastian Weigle
Director Vera Nemirova
Revival rehearsed by Hans Walter Richter
Stage Designer Jens Kilian
Costume Designer Ingeborg Bernerth
Lighting Designer Olaf Winter
Dramaturgy Malte Krasting
Video Bibi Abel
- Siegmund
- Frank van Aken
- Hunding
- Ain Anger
- Wotan
- James Rutherford
- Sieglinde
- Amber Wagner
- Brünnhilde
- Rebecca Teem
- Fricka
- Tanja Ariane Baumgartner
- Gerhilde
- Karen Vuong
- Ortlinde
- Britta Stallmeister
- Waltraute
- Jenny Carlstedt
- Schwertleite
- Bernadett Fodor
- Helmwige
- Hanna Herfurtner
- Siegrune
- Jessica Strong *
- Grimgerde
- Maria Pantiukhova
- Rossweiße
- Judita Nagyová
Frankfurt Opern- und Museumsorchester
* Member of the Opera Studio
SYNOPSIS
Wotan hopes that a hero, who is not answerable to the gods, will carry out what he is not allowed to do: win back Alberich’s Ring – which is now in Fafner’s possession. To this end he sired the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde with a mortal woman, and Erda bore him Brünnhilde, who is building an army of fallen heros with her eight half sisters, the Valkyries. An exhausted, wounded, unarmed man collapses in a stranger’s house and is tended by the woman who lives there. When her husband Hunding returns he realises that the man is the enemy he was seeking to kill. He grants him hospitality for the night but says they will fight in the morning. The wife gives her husband a sleeping draught. She and the stranger fall in love, although she realises that he must be her twin brother, from whom she became separated as a child. The stranger’s father had promised him that he would find a sword when he was in mortal danger. The sword is there, thrust into an oak tree by a stranger long ago. He pulls it out. Sieglinde reveals her name and calls him Siegmund. Wotan’s wife Fricka insists that Wotan punish the pair for their incest. The god must turn his back on Siegmund, his own son. Going against her father’s instructions Brünnhilde tries to help Siegmund in his battle with Hunding but Wotan’s spear shatters Siegmund’s sword. Wotan punishes Brünnhilde for her disobedience by depriving her of her divinity and putting her to sleep surrounded by a ring of fire until a hero is brave enough to wake her. Wotan was told by Brünnhilde that Sieglinde is expecting a child by Siegmund. So hope remains.
Opera, My Love Magazine 