The eager audience from around the world began to gather an hour before the performance. Festive fanfares heralded the beginning of the great celebration. "Die Walküre" by Richard Wagner awaited us.

"Die Walküre" is everything! It is music, theatre, extreme situations, subliminal moments, magical vision, sculpted direction, perfect interpretation of soloists and orchestra.

"Die Walküre" is a flight of imagination, inspiration, courage and daring.

"Die Walküre" is Plamen Kartaloff's masterpiece, painted with the finest and most precise brush strokes, a creation of beauty, an expression of love for art and its recreation.

The scenography by Hans Kudlich, the costumes by Hristiana Zorbalieva, the lighting by Andrej Hajdinjak are of exceptional artistic idea and perfect realization.

World-class soloists – magicians on stage that every theatre can dream of. Remarkable vocal and artistic mastery!

A whirlwind of passion and emotion lifted the audience into an incredible spiritual experience and ecstasy. The famous "Ride of the Valkyries" sparked unprecedented enthusiasm in audiences who came from all over Europe and America to watch "Der Ring des Nibelungen" at the Sofia Opera. Wagner's music is known not to be interrupted by applause, but last night the spontaneous applause was mixed with the fantastic performance of the Valkyries.

The orchestra and Constantin Trinks – astonishing musicianship, with passion and thought, with mastery in bringing out the musical lines, with self-giving and dedication.

Everyone in the hall could feel the tremendous energy from the stage, the magic spreading from the first to the last row. The audience, holding their breath with the first chords, erupted into a huge applause after the curtain fell. Applause for the soloists, the conductor, the orchestra, the director, applause for the incredible effort and professionalism of everyone!

A large group of Wagnerians met the artists after the end of the spectacle. They congratulated the soloists and the conductor and did not hide their delight and admiration for their performance. The guests said they had seen various productions of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" in the world's greatest theatres, but what they saw here was a true wonder and uplifting experience of the spirit.

"Last night I witnessed the triumph! Everyone was on a very high level! I'm very happy!" said the great Bulgarian singer Stefka Evstatieva.

Last night's spectacle is a golden page in the history of the Sofia Opera!

Such emotion on stage and in the hall could hardly be forgotten!

Here are the soloists and the production team who performed last night.

 
 

DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
a solemn stage performance for three days and a prelude;

libretto and music by Richard Wagner

Eve – "Das Rheingold",
First day – "Die Walküre",
Day Two – "Siegfried",
Day Three – "Götterdämmerung"

"Der Ring des Nibelungen" interweaves complex narrative and conceptual motifs. The action of the cycle takes place on earth, in the waters of the Rhine, underground, in Valhalla – in the sky, among humans, dwarves, gods and ends with a cosmic catastrophe that encompasses the universe.

What is the story of "Die Walküre", the first day of the tetralogy?

The events that take place in "Die Walküre" are separated by several years from the events in "Das Rheingold".

From the relationship of the god Wotan with an earthly woman, Sieglinde and Siegmund are born. Separated at birth, they are unaware of each other's existence.

Wotan, in order to protect Valhalla from enemies, has the Valkyries, virgin warriors who soar over the battlefields on winged horses, stand guard. They aid warriors in battle and carry the souls of fallen heroes to Valhalla.

Sieglinde becomes the wife of the warrior Hunding against her will. She awaits the announced arrival of her deliverer, the hero who will wrest the sword stuck to the hilt from the ash tree around which Hunding's hut is built.

Siegmund, an enemy of Hunding, comes to Sieglinde's hut without knowing who its owner is. The custom of hospitality requires that even an enemy be given shelter for the night. But the next day Siegmund has to fight with Hunding. When Hunding, having drunk the drink prepared by his wife, falls asleep, Siegmund and Sieglinde, feeling a mysterious attraction for each other, decide to escape. Siegmund pulls the sword out of the ash tree.

The meeting of brother and sister, Siegmund and Sieglinde, who fall in love with each other, is predetermined by Wotan. But his wife Fricka, the guardian of the marriage, demands punishment for those who have violated its sanctity. Wotan, against his will, must obey. Anticipating the coming catastrophe, he has placed all his hopes of saving the world on his son Sigmund. But the will of fate is indomitable. By condemning Sigmund to death, Wotan hastens the Earth's doom. He orders his beloved daughter, the Valkyrie Brunhilde, to take Hunding's side during the duel between Hunding and Siegmund. She decides to break her father's will. But the will of the lord of the gods is irrevocable: when Sigmund raises his sword to strike the enemy, Wotan places his spear and Sigmund's sword breaks. Hunding kills his unarmed opponent, but falls himself, struck by Wotan's gaze. Brünnhilde, fearing her father's wrath, hides, taking Sieglinde with her. She carries Siegmund's child under her heart... Brünnhilde entrusts her Valkyrie sisters with the care of Sieglinde and her future son, a great hero for whom Sieglinde must protect the shards of Siegmund's sword.

Wotan announces Brünnhilde's fate: she will be plunged into a sleep from which she will be awakened by a mortal, her future master. But at Brünnhilde's request, he changes the verdict – the Valkyrie's husband will be no mere mortal, but a hero. Wotan plunges Brünnhilde into a magical dream atop an inaccessible cliff surrounded by fire.



Curious!

The story in Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" cycle sounds fantastic and strange, like an exciting fairy tale. Although the characters seem very different from real people, the content tells us about basic human emotions – greed, love, lust, intrigue, etc. This is what throws a bridge to our modern times and makes the story so powerful.

Valkyrie is a figure in Norse mythology depicted as a female warrior on horseback, on a wolf or boar and armed with a spear.

Valkyries are virgin warriors subject to Odin, the supreme god of the Germans, lord of heaven and just war. They participate in the distribution of victories and decide who dies in battles and who does not. The Valkyries take the brave warriors who have fallen in battle to Valhalla, the palace of the dead.

The Icelandic Njál Saga preserves the "Song of the Valkyries" (or "Song of Deruda"), from the time of the famous Battle of Clontarf (1014) between the Irish and Norse Vikings.

One of the most popular musical themes from "Die Walküre" – "The Ride of the Valkyries" – became widely known through Francis Ford Coppola's epic film "Apocalypse Now" /1979/.


Tickets for the next performances of the Sofia Opera Wagner Festival can be purchased here.

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