Wagner - Die Walkure / Levine, Behrens, Norman, Metropolitan Opera (Levine Ring Cycle Part 2)
by Brian Large

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Movie Reviews of Wagner - Die Walkure / Levine, Behrens, Norman, Metropolitan Opera (Levine Ring Cycle Part 2)

Movie Review: Superb production
Summary: 5 Stars

Summary of Wagner - Die Walkure / Levine, Behrens, Norman, Metropolitan Opera (Levine Ring Cycle Part 2)

Musically, of course, is where any worthy Ring earns its keep, and under James Levine, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra makes the most sumptuous Wagnerian sounds of any current orchestra, as the dazzlingly fresh-sounding "Ride of the Valkyries" makes abundantly clear. The ravishing music is not solely instrumental, of course; the principal cast--Gary Lakes (Siegmund), Jessye Norman (Sieglinde), Hildegard Behrens (Br?nnhilde), and especially James Morris (Wotan)--more than handles the vocal and acting demands, even those long stretches of unbelievably difficult singing passages that Wagner demands. This Otto Schenk production has taken its lumps for its conventional approach to Wagner's mythic music-drama. But it's an easy first approach for newcomers, and it's actually a rarity nowadays--among countless deconstructionist approaches--that many Ring-lovers will enjoy Die Walk?re in its original setting and context. --Kevin Filipski

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