Wagner’s Valkyries storm through Longborough
OperaDie Walküre stands at the pinnacle of Romantic musical drama. Barely has the curtain opened when Wagner unleashes orchestral writing that sweeps everything away in its path. Storm, incest, divine wrath, irrepressible passion: everything is there to announce the tortuous destiny of the heroes. Through a composition in which every instrument contributes to the tragedy, Wagner begins the story proper, illuminating words and scenes with his famous leitmotifs that run beneath the singers, pass into their voices, transform and resurface as the plot develops. It is not surprising that Die Walküre (second part of the Ring of the Nibelung) is widely regarded as the most popular and the most moving. Likened to a Bayreuth in the English countryside, Longborough Festival stages a new production following the socially-distanced concert performance of Die Walküre in 2021. This new 2024 production is seen for the first time as part of Longborough’s 2024 Ring cycle. It is directed by Amy Lane, Artistic Director of Copenhagen Opera Festival, and conducted by Anthony Negus, Longborough Music Director and eminent Wagnerian, streamed via Slippedisc courtesy of OperaVision.. Mark Le Brocq sings the role of Siegmund and Emma Bell sings Sieglinde.
Sung in German with subtitles in English.
The Plot: Siegmund and Sieglinde find themselves drawn together during a storm. Unbeknown to them their father Wotan, chief of the gods, hopes through Siegmund to retrieve a ring of ultimate power.
Die Walküre is streamed on Friday 8th August at 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 New York
” Through a composition in which every instrument contributes to the tragedy,……..” rather depends how they’re played, surely 🙂
Wonderful, Norman. Thank you.
Tickets for the three cycles at Longborough were hard to come by. I had the great good fortune to see the dress rehearsal for Walküre and was very glad I did. Intelligent, beautiful singing and incisive, confident and powerful support from the pit. Anthony Negus has this music in his blood. I look forward to re-living the experience.
Hard to come by is an understatement! I had the date when tickets would go on sale to the general public on my calendar for months. Before that date even arrived, the tickets were completely sold out. I suppose even some donors were left out.
Watching it gratefully in Hawaii right now. Glorious to see and hear a normal Walkure for a change.
Where do I park my camper in Longborough
Plenty of pleasant campsites in the Cotswolds near Longborough.
Sadly there are no plans to revive this year’s Ring. But Wahnfried and Pelléas next season are both very tempting.
Negus’s next Ring in the UK will be at Grange Park, with the following schedule:
2026 Das Rheingold
2027 Die Walküre
2028 Siegfried
2029 Götterdämmerung
2030 The Ring Cycle