The Atlanta Opera will close its mainstage season presenting a new production of Die Walküre, the second epic drama of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen operas, first performed in 1870.
The opera will be presented April 27-May 5 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center under the direction of Tomer Zvulun, artistic director of Atlanta Opera, with music direction by Arthur Fagen.
“Die Walküre is the most romantic of the Ring operas and my personal favorite,” Zvulun said. “We have been building the company toward realizing this vision for more than a decade now. The time has arrived, now, to bring to Atlanta this monumental production starring a group of sensational singers.”
Die Walküre, which is performed by Atlanta Opera for the first time,builds on the spectacular cinematic imagery of last spring’s Das Rheingold. Die Walküre continues the plot from the loss of the ring of power to the giant Fafner which occurred at the conclusion of Rheingold, and further explores the experiences of the gods, dwarves, and humans as they continue their pursuit of the ring.
The story follows the daughters of Wotan, ruler of the gods, who are tasked with guiding the souls of fallen warriors to Valhalla.
The third of the four-part series, Siegfried, is on tap for the Atlanta Opera next season.
The performance time for Die Walküre is 4 hours, 25 minutes. The production will be available free on livestream on Friday, May 3 at stream/atlantaopera.org.
The opera features tenor Viktor Antipenko, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer and soprano Laura Wilde.
For more information, visit atlantaopera.org.
Photo: The third part of Wagner’s Ring Cycle will play April 27-May 5.
