Wagner: Die Walküre (Part 1) 華格納：女武神（第一部）

Siegmund: Gary Lakes (t)
Brünnhilde: Hildegard Behrens (s)
Sieglinde: Jessye Norman (s)
Hunding: Kurt Moll (b)
Wotan: James Morris (b-br)
The Metropolitan Opera Orch. / James Levine

齊格蒙特：力斯（男高音）
布恩曉特：比倫士（女高音）
齊格蓮特：諾曼（女高音）
康定：摩爾（男低音）
沃坦：莫利斯（低男中音）
大都會歌劇院樂團 / 利雲

In 1848, Richard Wagner completed a libretto for an opera intended to be called The Death of Siegfried. He found it necessary to go back to tell the story of Siegfried’s life, then further back to his origins, and finally to the overall context of the gods in Valhalla. Thus, he created four full-scale music dramas, with the first two, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, produced independently in Munich in 1869 and 1870 respectively. The entire cycle was first staged in Wagner’s own festival theatre at Bayreuth in 1876.

Following Das Rheingold, which Wagner described as the preliminary evening of the four-day festival, the first opera proper of the cycle is Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), completed in 1865. The work is so long that Rupert has to present his chosen recording in two instalments over two Sunday afternoons.

Siegmund and Sieglinde are twin brother and sister who have been brought up separated from and unknown to each other. He liberates her from her cruel husband Hunding and impregnates her. This act infuriates Fricka, the Goddess of Marriage, who forces the leader of the gods, Wotan, to help Hunding kill Siegmund in combat. Wotan decides to punish his daughter Brünnhilde for aiding Siegmund and encloses her within a wall of magic fire where she will lie in a deep sleep until a fearless hero comes to wake her.

In our recording, the role of Siegmund is sung by tenor Gary Lakes, that of Brünnhilde by soprano Hildegard Behrens, Sieglinde by soprano Jessye Norman, Hunding by bass Kurt Moll, and Wotan by bass-baritone James Morris. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra is conducted by its Artistic Director James Levine.