About this programme

Live from Leeds Town Hall, Opera North reaches the second part of its complete performance of Wagner's epic Ring cycle with a production of Die Walküre. The plot details how Wotan, king of the gods and father of nine warrior daughters (Valkyries) by Erda, goddess of the Earth, tries to break the curse of the Ring of power by fathering a hero by a mortal woman. Richard Farnes conducts an ensemble cast and the orchestra of Opera North. Presented by Adam Tomlinson. Erik Nelson Werner (baritone: Siegmund), Alwyn Mellor (soprano: Sieglinde), Clive Bayley (bass: Hunding), Béla Perencz (baritone: Wotan), Katarina Karnéus (mezzo: Fricka), Annalena Persson (soprano: Brünnhilde), Katherine Broderick (soprano: Helmwige), Meeta Raval (soprano: Ortlinde), Miriam Murphy (soprano: Gerhilde), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo: Waltraute), Madeleine Shaw (mezzo: Siegrune), Catherine Hopper (mezzo: Rossweisse), Antonia Sotgiu (mezzo: Grimgerde), Emma Carrington (mezzo: Schwertleite), Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North, conductor Richard Farnes. Including at 6.10 Twenty Minutes: Discovering Music: Stephen Johnson discovers how Wagner managed to create some of music's most transfixing sounds.