Die Walküre from the Royal Opera House

Keith Warner’s iconic production sets the stage for Wagner’s epic tale of family and power.

Antonio Pappano conducts an outstanding cast including Nina Stemme, John Lundgren, Sarah Connolly, Emily Magee, Stuart Skelton and Ain Anger in Keith Warner’s “outstanding staging” (Evening Standard) of Die Walküre.

Die Walküre is the second opera in Richard Wagner’s four-opera-cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. It is the most performed work in the cycle, loved and admired for its nuanced and intelligent exploration of complex family entanglements through music of astonishing emotive power. This includes the glorious music for the incestuous lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, and Wotan’s passionate farewell to his beloved daughter Brünnhilde.

Wotan’s voyage of self-discovery and ultimate resignation are at the heart of Keith Warner’s production, originally created for The Royal Opera in 2005. Wotan’s great Act II monologue is set in the abandoned former home of the gods, seen in Das Rheingold, whose evident disorder and damage present a striking representation of Wotan’s own inner decline and the gods’ incipient twilight. Recurring objects and visual motifs reflect the use of musical themes within Wagner’s score, which shows the composer at his most radical and most lyrical.

Genre Opera
Orchestra / Band Orchestra of The Royal Opera House
Conductor Antonio Pappano
Soloist Stuart Skelton
Soloist Emily Magee
Soloist John Lundgren
Soloist Nina Stemme
Soloist Sarah Connolly
Stage Director Keith Warner
Choreography by Claire Gaskin
Production year 2018