Hoy yoh toh hoh! The Valkyries ride again, in the most popular portion of Wagner's epic Ring Cycle, coming to you this week on CBC Radio 2 in Robert Lepage's new production from the Metropolitan Opera.
If you're going to take in just one segment of The Ring, this is the one with which to start. Katarina Dalayman is heard in the title role of the warrior maiden Brünnhilde, (Deborah Voigt is seen in the video excerpts from 2011), alongside an acclaimed cast that includes Bryn Terfel as Wotan, Jonas Kaufmann as Siegmund, Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde, Stephanie Blythe as Fricka, and Hans-Peter König as Hunding. The Met's principal conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium for the performance
In Wagner's Die Walküre, Brünnhilde (The Valkyrie, referring to the central figure, a warrior princess) witnesses a clashing of swords and a romance to die for; she gets a history lesson on all things Ring, and ends her day surrounded by a burning ring of fire. There's lots of information at the Met's mini website, where you will find a full synopsis. "Of course it's okay to leave the kids at the cottage,".... but what happens? Siegmund and Sieglinde can't keep their hands off one another, the Valkyries crash the party, and Brünnhilde defies the Gods. That's life at the opera this week in Wagner's epic Die Walküre.
As has been the pattern for many of the extended operas this season, CBC Radio 2 will timeshift the Met's start time so that the broadcast will take place 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. in most time zones (and 1:00-7:00 AT, 1:30-7:30 NT). In Tune and Deep Roots will not be heard this week.
If the broadcast whets your appetite for more things Ring-related, the Met's Live in HD presentations of Wagner's four-part Der Ring des Nibelungen return to movie theatres in the U.S. and Canada as a complete cycle. The series starts in Canadian theatres on May 7th, with Wagner’s Dream, a revealing new documentary by Susan Froemke. The stakes could not be higher as visionary director Robert Lepage, the world's greatest singers, and the Metropolitan Opera tackle Wagner's Ring Cycle. An intimate look at the enormous theatrical and musical challenges of staging opera's most monumental work, the film chronicles the quest to fulfill Wagner's dream of a perfect Ring. Please check with your local movie theatre for details.
Related links:
Vancouver Opera’s Aïda: A super’s diary
Rufus Wainwright returns to pop and opera
Gillian Keith, Lawrence Wiliford, Tyler Duncan sing silly Schubert