Die Walkure - The Valkyrie - English National Opera Guide 21

"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.

REVIEWS

'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