Die Walküre

Wotan wants to secure his power through offspring. The twins Siegmund and Sieglinde seem perfect for this. Fate brings them together one day. Wotan's wife Fricka, however, is a thorn in the side of sibling love, and Wotan himself is inwardly torn. When his favorite daughter, the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, rebels against him, he puts her to sleep and places a circle of fire around her that only a fearless man can pass through. On the first evening of the stage festival, humans appear for the first time; in a sense, Wagner starts anew with his narrative. In addition, a new tone comes into the music, with great expression and emphasis, corresponding to the great feelings that take up more and more space. In addition to the intense dialogue scenes, which Wagner fleshes out with psychological depth, effective instrumental parts such as the "Ride of the Valkyries" and the "Spell of Fire", which are undoubtedly among the musical highlights of the entire "Ring" tetralogy, with sheer overwhelming effect, are characteristic. With the "Valkyrie" score, composed in the mid-1850s, Wagner reached a new level in his art of giving the orchestra a special capacity for language and communication - additional layers of meaning are developed and brought into the work. And it is not only the human couple Siegmund and Sieglinde that gives rise to a literal "sympathy", but also the divine beings, who think, feel and act just as humanly.