Die Walküre

Wagner, Richard

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Warning: Do Not Grab This Ring Casually

There's nothing even remotely casual about Richard Wagner's four-part Ring cycle. It is the ultimate operatic epic, a thundering, weighty experience with the scope to enchant not just opera lovers but video gamers and fanatics immersed in Dungeons and Dragons–style role-play. Written over twenty-six years, it takes sixteen hours to perform from start to finish; a festival in Bayreuth, Germany, where this version was recorded live, undertakes the job every few years, drawing obsessed fans from around the world. Its tale—about a gold ring stolen from Rhine maidens by an evil dwarf named Alberich— spins through allegories about power, greed, and original sin. The "hero," a human warrior who does the bidding of the gods to help return the ring, doesn't even appear until Part Three.

This recording is of Die Walküre, which is Part Two, the most popular of the episodes and the one that best stands alone. It begins with a storm-tossed character named Siegmund (played here by Ramón Vinay), who picks up a strange vibe from the woman, Sieglinde (played by Gré Brouwenstijn), who has given him shelter. Turns out she is, in fact, his sister. They are Walsungs, creatures who are half god and half human, and in the first of several incestuous plot-twists, they fall in love. They have a son, Siegfried the warrior, who needs two more operas to get the gold back where it belongs.

Time is no object to the grandiose Wagner: The three acts of Die Walküre, which debuted in 1870, stretch over four compact discs. Each act contains at least one for-the-ages scene. The opening act's extended love duet, "Winterstürme," finds Siegmund and Sieglinde rhapsodizing through melodically understated declarations that will surprise anyone who associates Wagner with bombast. The great composer, who drew inspiration from German and nordic sagas and mythologies, saves the big guns for Act 2, where it's possible to hear what happens when the headstrong characters enter a collision course. Then there's the final act, which may remind modern listeners of an intergalactic battle scene from Star Wars.

This 1955 recording is considered one of two definitive modern readings—Sir Georg Solti's 1965 version is the other. This one takes a more "old school" approach to Wagner's text: By '65, opera singers were emphasizing tone production over the actual telling of the story. This recording, like many earlier interpretations of Wagner, finds the singers focusing on the meaning of the words first. The difference, one of intent, is significant: Here, everyone is immersed in the story. Swept away by Wagner's foreboding allegories, they're worried less about perfect notes than relaying the larger-than-life truths and consequences of the text. Which are many.

Genre: Opera
Released: 2006, Testament
Key Tracks: "Winterstürme," "Wotan's Farewell," "Ride of the Valkyries."
Another Interpretation: Vienna Philharmonic (Georg Solti, cond.).
Catalog Choice: Gotterdämmerung
Next Stop: Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
Book Page: 839

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