TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Forbidden lovers flee fate, a daughter defies her father, and gods grapple with a world slipping beyond their control as Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra brings Richard Wagner's “Die Walkure” to Taipei this month.
The opera concert will be presented at the National Concert Hall on July 10 and 12, bringing together international and domestic vocalists. Under the baton of conductor Jun Markl, the production explores themes of love, destiny, and redemption.
“Die Walkure,” or “The Valkyrie,” is the second opera in Richard Wagner’s monumental four-part cycle, “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” The composer was long fascinated by the legend of Siegfried, a central hero in Norse mythology, according to The Kennedy Center.
Often regarded as the most popular and self-contained of the four operas, “Die Walkure” features some of Wagner’s most celebrated music, including the “Ride of the Valkyries,” the “Magic Fire Music,” and Wotan’s farewell. The piece turns toward themes of love, moral conflict, and sacrifice, blending intimate human drama with an epic mythological setting.
Swedish soprano Ingela Brimberg, who performs the role of Brunnhilde, the Valkyrie, said the work remains strikingly relevant despite its age. “The whole Ring is an amazing piece. Wagner had the plan for it all. It's such a complicated yet wise and modern story.”
“The piece is very intimate theater about relationships that are not working out very well, but they are interesting. Both the music and story of the opera are very close to my heart.”
In “Die Walkure,” the tragic fate of twins Siegmund and Sieglinde sets the story in motion. Their forbidden love triggers a chain of events that reverberates between the human and divine worlds, according to Opera Online.
Torn between her duty to obey her father, the god Wotan, and her compassion for Siegmund, the Valkyrie Brunnhilde defies command in an attempt to protect Siegmund. Having violated Wotan’s will, Brunnhilde is stripped of her divine status and cast into a deep sleep, encircled by a ring of fire that only a fearless hero will be able to cross.
In NSO’s production, Wotan is performed by US bass-baritone Derrick Ballard, Siegmund by US tenor Nathan Bowles, and Sieglinde by US soprano Jessica Faselt. Other vocalists include Serbia’s Sava Vemic as Hunding, Japan's Nakajima Ikuko as Fricka, Noway's Tone Kummervold as Schwertleite, and Japan's Miyachi Ena as Helmwige.
