James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman - Wagner: Die Walkure (2002/1990)
James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman - Wagner: Die Walküre (2002/1990)
NTSC 4:3 (720x480) VBR | Deutsch (LinearPCM, 2 ch) | (DTS, 5 ch) | (Dolby AC3, 6 ch) | 7.88 Gb+4.22 Gb (DVD9+DVD5) | 241 min
Classical | Deutsche Grammophon | Sub: Deutsch, English, Francais, Espanol, Italiano, Chinese
NTSC 4:3 (720x480) VBR | Deutsch (LinearPCM, 2 ch) | (DTS, 5 ch) | (Dolby AC3, 6 ch) | 7.88 Gb+4.22 Gb (DVD9+DVD5) | 241 min
Classical | Deutsche Grammophon | Sub: Deutsch, English, Francais, Espanol, Italiano, Chinese
The 1990 Metropolitan Opera performance of Die Walküre with James Levine conducting is a solid, four-square performance with few frills and no gimmicks, just extraordinarily fine singing and orchestral playing. There is no point in this where you find yourself asking why the director did something: this is the sort of production which could be criticised as unimaginative but defended as serving Wagner's intentions for this instalment of his Ring cycle. Levine and his orchestra give the music an emotional intensity that never overwhelms its grandeur, though perhaps in Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde, we feel him more as father than as god.
James Morris as Wotan has real stature, making us feel that he has finally created the free agents he needs to avoid the curse he has unleashed on the world, but he has broken his heart in the process. Jessye Norman is surprisingly good and erotically self-assured as Sieglinde; the Act 1 love duet with Gary Lake as Siegmund has an ardour that makes the incestuous aspect less a matter of perversity than of the conduct of heroes. Kurt Moll makes Sieglinde's rapist and husband Hunding, a three-dimensional sinister villain; and Christa Ludwig almost manages to sell us Fricka's interminable paean to family values. The most impressive performance here, though, is Hildegard Behrens as Brunnhilde, the steely godling who sacrifices everything because she learns to feel and to know what is right. (Roz Kaveney)
Cast:
Siegmund - Gary Lakes
Hunding - Kurt Moll
Wotan - James Morris
Sieglinde - Jessye Norman
Brünnhilde - Hildegard Behrens
Fricka - Christa Ludwig
Walküren:
Gerhilde - Pyramid Sellers
Ortlinde - Martha Thigpen
Waltraute - Joyce Castle
Schwertleite - Sondra Kelly
Helmwige - Katarina Ikonomu
Siegrune - Diane Kesling
Grimgerde - Wendy Hillhouse
Rossweisse - Jacalyn Bower
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Conductor - James Levine
James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman - Wagner: Die Walkure (2002/1990)
James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman - Wagner: Die Walkure (2002/1990)
James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman - Wagner: Die Walkure (2002/1990)
James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman - Wagner: Die Walkure (2002/1990)
