Die Walküre

Dame Gwyneth Jones as Brunnhilde Those people who are only familiar with the instrumental version of The Ride of the Valkyries might be surprised to know that Die Walküre is really about love. There are many different types of love presented here: the incestuous love of twins, the strong bond between a father and his favorite child, the admiration for a brave warrior, and the long-suffering love of a much-wronged spouse. Most of the action in the opera is motivated by these tender feelings. No wonder Die Walküre is the most popular of the four operas.

Act One

The opera begins with Siegmund running from an angry, unseen mob. He finds a house built in such a way that it completely surrounds the trunk of a large tree. It is the house of Sieglinde and her husband Hunding. There is an air of sexual tension between the two as Sieglinde tries to make the wounded stranger comfortable before her husband comes home. When Hunding arrives, he notices a strange resemblance between the refugee and his wife and takes a strong dislike to him.

As Sieglinde prepares a meal the two men begin to talk. Siegmund tells how his mother was murdered and his twin sister kidnapped by marauders. He and his father were later separated by the same band of villains, and he believes his father to be dead. Therefore, he introduces himself as "Wehwalt" (sorrowful). When Hunding asks him how he came to be wounded and apparently running for his life, Siegmund explains that he tried to prevent a wedding when he realized that the girl was being forced into the marriage against her will. A fight broke out as Siegmund tried to defend the girl. When he killed her brothers, the wedding guests turned on the girl in anger and killed her despite Siegmund's best efforts to save her. Hunding announces that he is a relative of this family, and that as Siegmund had sought hospitality he is welcome to stay the night, but then must pay for the murder of his kin.

When Hunding demands that his wife get him a drink before bed, she adds a sleeping potion to it as Hunding goes into his bedroom. While Siegmund is left alone, he cries out to his father, Wälse, and reminds him of his promise to send his son a powerful sword in time of great need. Once Hunding is sleeping soundly, Sieglinde returns to speak with her guest and tells a story of her wedding day. She had been kidnapped as a child and her kidnappers have forced her to marry Hunding. As she is sitting alone and afraid on her wedding day, a stranger appears and plants a sword called Notung (Needful) deep within a branch of the tree which her new home has been built around. The stranger announced that anyone who could pull the sword out of the branch would own it, but no one was strong enough to free it. Sieglinde has lived in hope that one day a hero would arrive to free her as well as the sword. It becomes clear that the two are falling in love, and Siegmund decides to try to take both the sword and the woman for his own. When he succeeds in freeing the sword Notung, Sieglinde guesses that he is her long-lost brother Siegmund and reveals her name to him. The two resolve to run off together despite being brother and sister.

Act Two

Wotan and his daughter Brünnhilde are preparing for a battle between Hunding and Siegmund. Wotan wishes Brünnhilde to ride into battle to aid Siegmund. She agrees to her father's request and hurries off when she sees Fricka approaching. She doesn't wish to get caught in the middle should her father and his wife get in another quarrel.

Fricka tells Wotan that Hunding has appealed to her in her role as the goddess of marriage for the return of his wife. Wotan tries to defend Siegmund and Sieglinde, saying that there is true love between them while Sieglinde had never loved her husband. Fricka is revolted at the prospect of twins in a sexual relationship, and reminds Wotan that the only reason he is defending the twins is that he is their father.

She accuses him of condoning the sin of incest and trying to forget that he has sinned against his wife by fathering these children with a mortal woman. He is further abasing his honor by sending his bastard child Brünnhilde to aid the twins against the wishes of his lawful wife. Fricka demands that Wotan destroy Siegmund's magic sword and make the mortal fend for himself. When Wotan reluctantly agrees, Fricka grows even angrier, and insists that Brünnhilde may not aid the twins either, or Wotan will be held accountable. Wotan swears an oath to Fricka that Siegmund will not receive aid from any immortal source, and Fricka laughs in triumph.

Brünnhilde watches Fricka celebrating her victory, then returns to her father. Wotan sings a powerful and moving aria about how he fell in love with Erda after she warned him about the dangers of owning the Ring of the Nibelung. Erda agreed to share her knowledge of the future with him if he would agree to father her children. They had nine daughters together, and the oldest daughter, Brünnhilde, was made the chief of these Valkyries. She is Wotan's "will", so beloved and trusted that she carries out his deepest wishes as though she were an extension of himself.

Wotan learned from Erda that the Nibelung Alberich was planning a war in order to regain his ring. If the dwarf were successful, Valhalla and all of the gods would be destroyed. Only a hero with no help from the gods would be able to prevent this. Wotan believes that Siegmund may be this hero, and tells Brünnhilde that she may not assist him in the upcoming battle or she may destroy all hope for the future of the gods. Brünnhilde is skeptical, thinking that it is only Fricka's anger which made Wotan decide to abandon his son.

Brünnhilde meets Siegmund and tells him that he is about to be killed by Hunding and that she will be taking him to Valhalla to rejoin his father afterwards. Siegmund states that he would rather go to hell than be separated from Sieglinde for all eternity, and Brünnhilde is melted by his tenderness. She agrees to help Siegmund defeat Hunding, and to protect Sieglinde and her unborn child.

Hunding arrives and challenges Siegmund to battle him. As Brünnhilde urges Siegmund to use the magic of his sword, Wotan appears and shatters Notung in Siegmund's hand. Siegmund falls down dead and Brünnhilde flees, putting Sieglinde on the saddle in front of her.

Act Three

The rest of the Valkyrie are singing and riding, swooping up fallen warriors and wondering what is keeping Brünnhilde. She rides up quite suddenly with Sieglinde still before her. She appeals to her sisters to loan her a fresh horse. The Valkyries are afraid to do so, but they gather around her as Wotan approaches. They send Sieglinde into the forest to the east, even though it is where the dragon Fafner is hiding with the Ring of the Nibelung. It is thought that she will be safer there than facing the wrath of Wotan. Brünnhilde sends the fragments of the shattered sword with Sieglinde so that they can be forged anew for her son.

When Wotan draws near, the eight Valkyries try to calm him but are not successful. He is devastated that the daughter who knows his every thought so well would betray a direct command. Brünnhilde steps forward to receive her punishment, and Wotan tells her that she has given up her right to be an immortal. She will be banished from Valhalla and put into a deep sleep. Whatever man awakens her will become her master. Brünnhilde and her sisters try to dissuade Wotan until he becomes even angrier. The eight sisters flee in terror, leaving Brünnhilde alone with her father.

Brünnhilde reminds her father that despite his promise to Fricka, he truly wished to assist Siegmund. She states that she was carrying out Wotan's true will instead of following his orders and pleads for mercy. Wotan begins to soften a little bit, and Brünnhilde pleads that he should at least prevent a weak man from gaining power over her. Wotan agrees to her request, and puts her into a deep sleep within the confines of a large rock. He summons Loge, the god of fire, to surround the rock with an eternal flame that only a hero will be able to pass. The opera ends as flames shoot up around Brünnhilde's rock.