Home > Die Walkure Wagner, R. (1813-1883) Die Walkure The Valkyrie Composed 1851-1856. First performed December 26, 1862. Libretto by the composer (in German). A Summary of “Die Walkure (The Valkyrie)” Act 1 In a mythological time, Wotan, the ruler of the gods, thinks that he makes his human twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, get back the magic ring. The twins grow up separately. One day, Siegmund gets wounded on the battlefield, and struggles to the house of the Hunding. Actually, Hunding is one of the enemy. Next day, he will challenge Hunding to a duel. But, that night, Sieglinde tells Siegmund that an old man plunged a sword into an ash tree in Hunding’s house. And, they both notice that Siegmund and Sieglinde are twins. Siegmund easily withdraws the sword, and names it “Nothung.” Act 2 Wotan wants to make Siegmund win, but his wife, Fricka who is the god of marriage, never permits the relationship of Siegmund and Sieglinde. Wotan reluctantly orders his daughter, Brunnhilde who is a Valkyrie, to use her power to make Hunding win. Brunnhilde arrives at the duel of Siegmund and Hunding, then she notices the depth of love between Siegmund and Sieglinde. Brunnhilde decides to let Siegmund win. However, when Siegmund brandished his sword, “Nothung,” over Hunding, Wotan breaks Nothung into pieces. Hunding thrusts his spear in Siegmund. Brunnhilde quickly leaves with Sieglinde. Act 3 Brunnhilde asks for help from the other Valkyries. But they refuse. Brunnhilde conveys Sieglinde that Sieglinde is going to have Siegmund’s baby. Brunnhilde lets Sieglinde escape with a piece of Nothung. Wotan appears, and gets angry with Brunnhilde for disobeying him. He orders her to get married to a passer-by. He takes away her Valkyrie status, so she becomes a mortal woman. He holds her in a magic sleep at the top of a mountain, and ignites the circle of flame to protect her. All weak men never get near her. This is the least he can do in the way of pity for her. A Comment on “Die Walkure (The Valkyrie)” After the first opera, “Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold),” The core of Ring Cycle begins. The second opera is “Die Walkure (The Valkyrie).” What is a Valkyrie? Wotan, the ruler of the gods, has nine daughters who were each born from one of nine goddesses. The daughters equip themselves with steel helmets, spears and shields. Their job is to select a brave soldier who died on a battle field and to bring them to Valhalla, the castle of the gods. Brunnhilde is the daughter between Wotan and Erda, the earth goddess, who advises him to give up the cursed ring. Brunnhilde is a heroine in the overall Ring Cycle. The Soprano who sings Brunnhilde, requires a powerful voice. Birgit Nilsson, who is a Swedish Soprano, is famous for the leading dramatic Soprano in the 20th century. She is very good at singing Brunnhilde. “Die Walkure (The Valkyrie)” is the highest degree of completeness as compared to the other three operas. So, this opera is popular among opera followers. There are a lot of outstanding scenes, for example, in Act 1, a duet between Siegmund and Sieglinde, and the scene of that Siegmund withdraws the sword, “Nothung.” By the way, Nothung means predicament. Siegmund withdraws it when he gets into a scrape. The Litmotiv of “Nothung” is very noticeable, so you will probably get a strong impression from it. In Act 2, Brunnhilde appears and sings “Ho, yo, to ho!” is the famous Brunhilde’s battle cry. This is very difficult to sing at the starting point, so Brunnhilde is the most difficult role in Soprano. And, the prelude “Ride of the Valkyries,” in Act 3 is the most famous in Wagner’s operas. This music matches Valkyries who fly wildly around on winged horses. Besides these, the scene of a marital dispute between Wotan and Fricka in Act 2, and the scene in which Wotan says good bye to Brunnhilde (“Wotan's Farewell”) in Act 3 are excellent in this opera. Gluck, C. W. (1714-1787) 　- Orpheus and Eurydice Mozart, W. A. (1756-1791) 　- The Marriage of Figaro 　- Don Giovanni 　- Cosi fan tutte 　- The Magic Flute Beethoven, L. v. (1770-1827) 　- Fidelio Weber, C. M. v. (1786-1826) 　- The Magic Bullets Rossini, G. (1792-1868) 　- The Barber of Seville Donizetti, G. (1797-1848) 　- The Elixir of Love Verdi, G. (1813-1901) 　- Macbeth 　- Rigoletto 　- Il trovatore 　- La Traviata 　- Un ballo in maschera 　- Don Carlo 　- Aida 　- Otello 　- Falstaff Wagner, R. (1813-1883) 　- The Flying Dutchman 　- Tannhauser 　- Lohengrin 　- Tristan und Isolde 　- Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg 　- The Rhinegold 　- Die Walkure 　- Siegfried 　- Twilight of the Gods 　- Parsifal Offenbach, J. (1819-1880) 　- The Tales of Hoffmann Strauss, J. (1825-1899) 　- Die Fledermaus (The Bat) Bizet, G. (1838-1875) 　- Carmen Tchaikovsky, P. J. (1840-1893) 　- Eugene Onegin Massenet, J. (1842-1912) 　- Werther Humperdinck, E. (1854-1921) 　- Hansel and Gretel Puccini, G. (1858-1924) 　- La Boheme 　- Tosca 　- Madama Butterfly 　- Turandot Leoncavallo, R. (1858-1919) 　- Pagliacci Mascagni, P. (1863-1945) 　- Cavalleria Rusticana Debussy, C. (1862-1918) 　- Pelleas et Melisande Strauss, R. (1864-1949) 　- Salome 　- The Cavalier of the Rose Copyright (C) 2005-2017 Yusuke Kamiki. All Rights Reserved.