The first presentation of a work by Richard Wagner at the new home of the Greek National Opera is finally here: Die Walküre -an international GNO co-production with the Royal Danish Opera- is coming to the Stavros Niarchos Hall. Conducting is the internationally renowned Philippe Auguin, a maestro eminently versed in the work of Wagner, while acclaimed British director John Fulljames is staging the production.

Die Walküre («The Valkyrie») -one of the most significant yet also popular operas the world over, being staged here by the Greek National Opera for the first ever time- is the second of four parts that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen («The Ring of the Nibelung») by Richard Wagner. Modelled on Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, Wagner spent many years composing this epic work. It sprang from the ideological ferment that held sway in the Germanic sphere during the mid-19th century, in which the composer was enmeshed from 1841 through until 1849, while living in Dresden. Drawing his inspiration from northern European legend, Wagner -who also wrote the libretto- wanted to critique the early-industrial society of his time, the institution of marriage, and power relations through his Ring cycle. In music terms, Die Walküre is an intensely dramatic work that introduced many musical innovations; it would shape the future course of the art form and influence generations of composers to come. The «Ride of the Valkyries» remains famous to this day – a piece used by Francis Ford Coppola in his 1979 feature film Apocalypse Now.

The director John Fulljames had this to note about the production: «We set the opera in a fictional universe which holds in balance the mythic and the real. This world resonates with today without being tied down to a time and place. The central character of this opera is really Wotan – as he comes to terms with the consequences of his choices, realising his grand scheme will collapse and that he must abandon first his son and then his daughter, and face forward to his death. The death though is not just his own – there is also a broader ecological context as the world he has exploited faces a death. We see him as holding 21st-century power – so not a 19th-century industrialist, as he has so often been seen, but instead a creative entrepreneur; perhaps an architect or the leader of a vast media empire.»