DIE WALKÜRE –
Richard Wagner
18.5.2024
SOFIA OPERA AND BALLET

Conductor: EVAN ALEXIS CHRIST
Director PLAMEN KARTALOV
Assistant director JULIA KRESTEVA
Set design HANS KUDLIH
Costumes KRISTIANA MIKHALEVA-ZORBALIEVA
Lighting artist ANDREJ HAYDINYAK
Multimedia IVAN LIPCHEV
Constructive development Eng. GEORGI GEORGIEV
Design and sculptural development BORYAN BELCHEV
Painter/Artist NELA STOYANOVA
Choir conductor VIOLETA DIMITROVA
Concertmaster MARIA EUSTATIEVA
Head of stage production KRISTIAN STOYANOVA
Assistant directors STEFKA GEORGIEVA, THEODOR GEORGIEV, VYA KARABELOVA
Accompanists YOLANTA SMOLYANOVA
Choreographer RIOLINA TOPALOVA
Technical services and studios of the Sofia Opera

CAST:
Wotan: Thomas Halll
Fricka: Mariana Cvetkova
Siegmund: Martin Iliev
Hunding: Angel Hristov
Brünnhilde: Gergana Rusekova
Sieglinde: Cvetana Bandalovska
Helmwige: Stanislava Momekova
Ortlinde: Silvia Teneva
Gerhilde: Ljubov Metodieva
Waltraute: Ina Petrova
Siegrune: Elena Mehandziska
Rossweisse: Cveta Sarambelieva
Grimgerde: Alexandrina Stoyanova-Andreeva
Schwertleite: Vesela Yaneva

Ballet: Bogomil Menkize, Georgi Banchev, Georgi Asparuhov, Teodor Vodenicharov, Deyan Ivanov, Dario Yovchevski, Ivan Georgiev, Ivan Shopov, Zahari Georgiev

Orchestra, choir and ballet of the Sofia Opera

D I E  W A L K Ü R E
Synopsis
A c t I
A storm is raging. An exhausted man takes shelter and asks whose house he is in. Sieglinde brings him water and tells him that the house and she herself belong to Hunding. The stranger tells her he is wounded and unarmed. Sieglinde offers him mead, which he asks her to share. Revived, he prepares to go, saying  that wherever he goes misfortune follows. Sieglinde begs him to stay. Hunding returns and offers the stranger grudging hospitality. He notices a resemblance between his wife and the stranger. The stranger tells his tale. He and his fatherreturned home from hunting one day to find their home destroyed, his mother murdered and his twin sister abducted. His father disappeared, and ever since he has been dogged by misfortune. He lost his weapons defending a girl who was being forced into a loveless marriage; he had killed her brothers only to see her killed by others of her clan. Hunding realizes that the murdered men were his kinsmen. Bound by the laws of hospitality, he gives the stranger shelter for the night but challenges hisunarmed guest to a fight the next morning. Alone, the fugitive recalls the sword his father once promised he would find in his hour of greatest need. Sieglinde returns, having drugged Hunding. She recounts how, at her enforced wedding to Hunding, a stranger appeared and thrust a sword into the tree trunk . No-one has been able to pull it out. Sieglinde and the stranger now pledge themselves to one another and the stranger asks Sieglinde to rename him. Discovering his father’s name was really
Wälse, she is convinced he is her twin; she names him Siegmund and urges him to remove the sword from the tree. Calling it Nothung, he draws it out and claims Sieglinde as both bride and sister. Ecstatically and defiantly, they declare their love.

A c t I I
Wotan instructs Brӥnnhilde, his favourite Valkyrie daughter, to ensure that Siegmund wins the fight with Hunding. Wotan’s wife Fricka announces that Hunding has appealed to her, as guardian of marriage, to punish the adulterous and incestuous couple. Wotan thinks they have done no wrong since they love one another: he has no regard for loveless bonds. Fricka demands to know how Wotan can both sanction incest and uphold the gods’ laws. He outlines his plan: the gods need a hero, Sieg-mund, who is independent and can carry out the deeds they themselves cannot do. Fricka points out the folly of his argument: Siegmund owes his sword and life to Wotan; if he were truly independent he would not need the sword’s protection. Defeated, Wotan promises that neither he nor Brӥnnhilde will protect Siegmund. Alone with Brӥnnhilde, Wotan gives way to despair. He recounts now how, when the pleasures of love started to pall, he began to lust for power and was dishonest in his ruthless pursuit of it. Wotan tells Brӥnnhilde the story of Alberich, the Nibelung who renounced love and stole the gold from the Rhinedaughters and made a ring from it. Wotan then stole it from Alberich, but instead of returning it to the Rhinedaughters he used it to pay the giants who built Valhalla. He tells her that Erda, source of all wisdom, is her mother. She and her eight Valkyrie sisters now gather up fallen heroes for Wotan, who believes they will protect him from Alberich. Wotan is desperate to get the ring back from the giant Fafner, who has transformed himself into a dragon. Wotan tells Brӥnnhilde he cannot confront the giant himself because of their contract: he needs a free agent to act for him. Brӥnnhilde asks why Siegmund cannot be that hero. Wotan explains that Fricka saw through his plan; he has to abandon what he loves most. Wotan tells Brӥnnhilde that she must not protect Siegmund and threatens the direst consequence if she disobeys. Siegmund and Sieglinde are fleeing from Hunding. Sieglinde tries to persuade Siegmund to abandon her but he vows to kill Hunding. Brӥnnhilde appears to Siegmund and announces that he will die in battle and join the other heroes in Valhalla. There he will meet his father. When Siegmund learns that he cannot take Sieglinde he refuses to go. He threatens to kill both Sieglinde and their unborn child rather than be separated from her. Brӥnnhilde is astonished and moved by compassion. Hunding’s horn is heard. Brӥnnhilde tries to protect Siegmund but Wotan shatters Siegmund’s sword with his spear. Hunding strikes Siegmund dead. Brӥnnhilde gathers the pieces of the broken sword and flees with Sieglinde. Wotan annihilates Hunding and leaves in pursuit of Brӥnnhilde.

A c t I I I
The Valkyries gather dead warriors for Valhalla. Brӥnnhilde arrives at great speed and the Valkyries are shocked to see that she is accompanied by a woman. Brӥnnhilde begs the Valkyries to protect her and Sieglindefrom Wotan. Terrified, they will not risk helping her. Sieglinde wants to die, but when Brӥnnhilde tells her she is carrying Siegmund’s son, who will be the noblest hero in the world, she begs protection. She is urged to flee to the forest in the east where Fafner guards the Nibelung hoard, and she leaves, taking with her the fragments of Siegmund’s sword. Wotan arrives and the Valkyries try to hide Brӥnnhilde from his wrath, begging him to be merciful to her. Wotan is unmoved and denounces her disobe-dience, banishing her from Valhalla. She will be left to sleep until a mortal man wakes her. The Valkyries protest but they scatter when Wotan threatens them with the same fate. Brӥnnhilde asks Wotan if her crime deserves such a terrible punishment. When she felt compassion inthe face of Siegmund and Sieglinde’s love, she disobeyed Wotan but she believed it was what Wotan truly wanted. Wotan remains unforgiving, even when Brӥnnhilde tells him that a Wälsung hero will be born to Sieglinde. Finally, Brӥnnhilde asks to be surrounded by fire so that only a true hero will reach her. Wotan agrees to this solution and bids her farewell. He calls on Loge, the god of fire, to encircle her with flames.