Discover the upcoming dates for Wagner's opera Die Walküre around the world and book your tickets now!

THE VALKYRIE, WAGNER'S MASTERPIECE

Although Die Walküre is Wagner's most famous work, it is part of the Ring cycle, a unique and most ambitious collection of compositions ever written. Some 15 hours of superlative music illustrate an epic and brilliant story of men and gods, dominated by the immortal figures of Brünnhilde, Wotan and Siegfried.

This opera is the first of the three days that make up the Ring of the Nibelung cycle and takes place after the prologue, Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold). This major work by Richard Wagner is inspired by Germanic mythology and the Nibelungenlied, a medieval German epic poem. It premiered in Munich in 1870. Throughout the tetralogy, as in Die Walküre, recurring musical themes characterise the characters and situations. These leitmotifs give the Nibelungen cycle its thematic and musical unity.

HISTORY

The Valkyries are warrior maidens, daughters of Wotan, father of the gods. The plot of the opera also features two twin demigods, Siegmund and Sieglinde, who become bound by an incestuous love. The work explores the complex interplay of feelings, guilt and punishment, in the purest romantic tradition. The characters' destinies unfold against the fabulous backdrop of Germanic mythology.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS

• Siegmund, twin brother of Sieglinde and son of Wotan, tenor
• Sieglinde, twin sister of Siegmund, soprano
• Hunding, husband of Sieglinde, bass
• Wotan, father of the gods, bass-baritone
• Brunnhilde, daughter of Wotan, soprano
• Fricka, goddess guardian of marriage, mezzo-soprano