The encounters, musically and dramatically, between the powerful figures of Wotan and Brünnhilde, are, perhaps, the most memorable sequences in the entire Ring Cycle. Brünnhilde’s dramatic battle cries of hojo-to-yo upon entering Wotan’s presence are certainly among the most famous music ever written for a dramatic soprano, and can never be anything less than thrilling. Greer Grimsley as Wotan and Iréne Theorin as his daughter, Brünnhilde, portray an intense emotional relationship Wagner’s “Die Walküre.” Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera Wotan orders Brünnhilde to withdraw proection for Siegmund, but knowing how much Wotan truly loves Siegmund, she disobeys, angering the powerful god. Wotan loves Siegmund and Sieglinde, but his wife, the goddess Fricka, is protectress of marriage, and insists that when Honding, Sieglinde’s lawful husband, attacks Siegmund, he must die.
Of course, at the heart of “Die Walkürie” is the story of Wotan and his daughter Brünnhilde, leader of the Valkyrie, the strong women who haunt battlefields to take the souls of fallen heroes toguard Valhalla. (Critics have called her “a force of nature,” and written rhapsodies about the “rich nuance of her vocal sound.”) Her voice is as thrilling as ever, and utilized perfectly to create character and respond with true emotion to every carefully wrought detail of Wagner’s libretto (which he always referred to as a “poem”). Much of the opera is taken up with the love story of Sieglinde and Siegmund, and appealing lovers they are.Īs Sieglinde, Finnish soprano Karita Mattila makes a spectacular return to the San Francisco Opera where she was last heard making her debut in the challenging role of Kostelnička in a much-celebrated production of Leoš Jánaĉek’s “Jenůfa.” Few singers face the kind of audience expectations that arise for someone of Mattila’s stellar reputation. The action begins while Hunding is away, and a stranger, Siegmund (Brandon Jovanovich) flees from the forest into the cabin clearing where Sieglinde offers assistance. The second opera of the Ring Cycle, “Die Walkürie” opens far from Valhalla, the home of the gods, outside the cabin of the huntsman Hunding (Raymond Aceto) and his unwilling bride, Sieglinde (Karita Mattila).
By Charles Kruger Brandon Jovanovich as Siegmund and Karita Mattila as Sieglinde in Wagner’s “Die Walküre.” Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera This reviewer is a voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC)
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