“Things like this are written only for people
who have good powers of endurance (so really
for nobody!),” wrote Wagner about
Die Walküre.
Yet, as Geoffrey Skelton points out, the opera
has enjoyed a separate popularity and existence
from the Ring cycle. George Gillespie shows
just how the string of mythical events was
converted into a drama remarkable for its
concentrated excitement and fine construction.
Barry Millington introduces the web of motifs
in the complex score. The English version, with
Elizabeth Forbes’s translation of the verses
that Wagner did not eventually set to music but
retained as footnotes to his published version, is
by acclaimed translator Andrew Porter.
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'Brilliantly produced and superb value.'
Sunday Times
'All these will provide the new opera-goer with food for thought.'
Daily Telegraph
'Wholehearted recommendation of this valuable new series.'
TLS
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By the same author:
