The Valkyries - BaCKGROUND BY JON JANACek
Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung consists of a prologue and a trilogy of dramatic works which are four episodic operas. Wagner called them "music-dramas". The operas included are Das Rheingold (The Rheingold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, and finally Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). The plots of these four operas are interwoven with the far-reaching, baleful results of the theft of the magical gold of the Rhine River by the dwarf, Alberich. This gold, made into an all powerful ring to rule the world, is fought for by Wotan and the gods, by the Nibelung (a lineage of dwarves of the underworld), by the giants, and by individual heroes (the human children of Wotan). This cursed ring brings disaster to all its possessors until it is returned to the Rhine, after causing the destruction of the gods.
When Richard Wagner set out to write what he envisioned to be the Magnum Opus of his works, he sorted through a number of ideas for his story; ranging from a biographical opera about the figure of Christ to the German Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, before finally venturing into ancient mythology for the broadest possible message to his audience. It took Wagner over 25 years (April, 1848 to November, 1874) to complete his epic tetralogy. He wrote the Libretto backwards starting with the death of his hero, Siegfried, and he soon realized that he needed more back story of the preceding families involved in his great drama. He then wrote the music for each opera in chronological order.
While The Ring of the Nibelung is based primarily on source material from the Norse Myths including the Nibelungenlied, the Eddas, and The Saga of the Volsungs, which returned to great popularity in Germany during Wagner's time, the story of The Ring is entirely Wagner's own original vision. He also included many characteristics of the classical Greek Myths as well. The Oresteia Play by Aeschylus as well as the epic poetry and dramatic works of Homer, Milton and Shakespeare were also influential. Those familiar with ancient mythology will quickly recognize in the father god, Wotan, characteristics of the philandering ways of Zeus as well as the obvious ones of the Norse God, Odin. And his daughter, Brünnhilde, shares even more character traits with that of Zeus' daughter, Athena, the wise and heroic Valkyrie warrior, as opposed to the woman we find in the Nibelungenlied or any of the Eddas.
Die Walküre is the odd opera of the four music-dramas in that neither Alberich nor the cursed Ring appears. This second opera primarily focuses on the family drama involving the displaced Wälsung twins (Siegmund and Sieglinde) and Brünnhilde and her sisters (the Valkyries) all of whom will betray their common father through different mothers (Wotan). Wagner was at his creative peak as a composer at the time of writing The Ring Cycle with his use of melodic themes interwoven into the music to tell his stories. Scholars refer to these themes as leitmotifs. Wagner called them "motives of memory" as they were intended to serve as psychological moods, descriptive of respective characters and their emotions, ideas, and actions. Certain themes are more recognizable than others. Many of the famous ones can be heard in the present opera: including the sword, Nothung, Wotan's spear (which contains the treatises and laws inscribed to give him governing power as the father god), and, most especially, the themes of the individual characters themselves. Perhaps the most famous theme is that of Brünnhilde and her sister Valkyries. The Ride of the Valkyries which begins Act 3 is one of the most famous sequences of music ever written. It is also interesting to note that while the men in Wagner’s operas often perform noble or significant deeds it is the women who are often the most heroic and redeeming figures; especially the characters of Sieglinde and Brünnhilde in the present opera. Die Walküre has historically been the most popular and accessible of The Ring’s four dramas, and it remains to this day one of the most beloved in the operatic repertoire.
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