Wagner's Die Walküre
The complete Ring Cycle at the Zürich Opera
Cast
Andreas Homoki — Producer
Christian Schmidt — Set and costume design
Florian Schaaf — Assistant artistic stage designer
Franck Evin — Lighting designer
Werner Hintze — Dramaturgy
Beate Breidenbach — Dramaturgy
Eric Cutler — Siegmund
Christof Fischesser — Hunding
Program notes
Lose yourself in the legendary world of Richard Wagner’s epic four-part saga Der Ring des Nibelungen, one of opera’s most towering achievements, first performed as a cycle 150 years ago in 1876 and presented here in a magnificent Zürich Opera House staging described by Bachtrack as “dramatic music-making at its finest.” Conductor Gianandrea Noseda and stage director Andreas Homoki’s polished and imaginative production underscores the profound humanity of a “dysfunctional family of gods” (The Independent) brought to life by an exceptional cast that includes Klaus Florian Vogt, Tomasz Konieczny, Camilla Nylund, and Christopher Purves.
Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen draws inspiration from Norse mythology and Germanic legend. With this original cycle, he crafted a grand operatic universe filled with extraordinary tales about a powerful, cursed ring and its role in the conflict between gods and mortals. Die Walküre, the second opera in the cycle, includes one of the most iconic moments in all of classical music: the “Ride of the Valkyries”! The amazing sister-warriors ride fiercely into the battlefield, led by Wotan’s favorite daughter Brünnhilde, who will face punishment for helping two young lovers defy ancient rules and sacred laws to be together. Angering Wotan, Brünnhilde is condemned to sleep on the top of a mountain, surrounded by a circle of eternal fire that only a true hero “who knows no fear” will be able to cross in order to awaken her.
