Walkure : Cassiers, Barenboim / Teatro alla Scala, S.O'Neil, W.Meier, Tomlinson, Stemme, etc (2010 Stereo)

Richard Wagner called Die Walkure the 'first evening' of the Ring of the Nibelung; he called Das Rheingold the prologue or Vorabend. Musically and dramatically, we are introduced to a radically new and different world when the opening bars of Die Walkure resound. A fully developed orchestral palette of Leitmotivs paints a wild storm scene, and the curtain rises on a modest dwelling: A fully human scene that has nothing to do with the gods, dwarfs and nymphs of Das Rheingold. At the same time, however, the way Die Walkure portrays radical beginnings reveals some telling reminiscences of the unfolding of Das Rheingold. Die Walkure is exciting and deeply feeling drama. The Scala 'Ring' Cycle by Guy Cassiers is continued here with numerous outstanding opera stars. Most of all, the leading ladies, Waltraud Meier as Sieglinde, Nina Stemme and Ekaterina Gubanova, are to be named. Simon O'Neill and John Tomlinson fight a stirring duel as Sigmund and Hunding, and Vitalij Kowaljow gives his dark portrayal of Wotan. Daniel Barenboim presents a fantastic musical interpretation of this second and inspiring evening of the 'Ring'.