BY KAREN BOSSICK
Richard Wagner’s “Die Walkure” will serve as the Metropolitan Opera’s last live screening of the 2018-19 season on Saturday.
The Met HD Live screening will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 23, at the Hailey’s Bigwood 4 Cinema.
And buckle yourself in—this one lasts five minutes shy of five hours.
But it’s worth it as the New York Times calls it an “exciting” production that whisks by.
The opera based on Norse mythology is the second of the four dramas that make up Wagner’s Der Ring series. It premiered at the National Theatre Munich in June 1870 and received its first performance as part of the ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus six years later.
It features the familiar “Ride of the Valkyries.”
Christine Goerke performs Brunnhilde; Eva-Maria Westbroek, Sieglinde, and Jamie Barton, Fricka. Stuart Skelton stars as Siegmund; Greer Grimsley, Wotan, and Gunther Groissbock, Hunding.
The conductor is Philippe Jordan.
The opera opens as Siegmund, who is being pursued by enemies, stumbles into an unfamiliar home. Sieglinde, who turns out to be his twin, finds him lying by the hearth and the two feel an immediate attraction.
But, oops, Sieglinde’s husband Hunding finds him and Siegmund tells of his life only to find out that Hunding is kinsman of his enemies.
Furthermore, the gods are not happy about the burgeoning romance between the twins.
Tickets are $16, available at the door. Students may attend free of charge as part of the Sun Valley Opera’s educational outreach.