This page excerpted from the book and CDROM "Opera on Screen"

WALKÜRE, DIE

1870 opera by Wagner

The Valkyrie is the second opera in Richard Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen tetralogy. Siegmund and Sieglinde, mortals who are the children of Wotan, do not know they are brother and sister. They fall in love and run away with the sword Nothung. Her husband Hunding and Siegmund fight and the Valkyrie Brünnhilde sides with her siblings against her father Wotan. Wotan kills Siegmund by shattering the sword and punishes Brünnhilde by putting her to sleep in a circle of fire. The "Ride of the Valkyries" music is often used in non-operatic films.

1980 Bayreuth Festival

Gwyneth Jones portrays Brünnhilde in Patrick Chereau's 1977 Bayreuth Festival Centenary production set in the 19th century. Pierre Boulez conducts. Peter Hofman is Siegmund, Jeanine Altmeyer is Sieglinde, Donald McIntyre is Wotan, Matti Salminen is Hunding and Hanna Schwarz is Fricka. Richard Peduzzi designed the sets and Jacques Schmidt the costumes. Brian Large directed the video. Color. In German with English subtitles. 216 minutes. Philips video and laserdisc.

1989 Bavarian State Opera

Hildegard Behrens portrays Brünnhilde in this modernist Bavarian State Opera production by Nikolas Lehnhoff with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting. Robert Schunk is Siegmund, Julia Varady is Sieglinde, Robert Hale is Wotan, Kurt Moll is Hunding and Marjana Lipovsek is Fricka. Erich Wonder designed the symbolic high-tech sets and Shokichi Amano directed the video. Color. In German with English subtitles. 235 minutes. EMI video/Japanese laser.

1990 Metropolitan Opera

Hildegarde Behrens sings Brünnhilde in this traditional Metropolitan Opera production by Otto Schenk with James Levine conducting. Gary Lakes is Siegmund, Jesse Norman is Sieglinde, James Morris is Wotan, Kurt Moll is Hunding and Christa Ludwig is Fricka. Gunther Schneider-Siemssen designed the naturalistic sets and Rolf Langenfass the costumes. Brian Large directed the video telecast on PBS. Color. In German with English subtitles. 244 minutes. DG video and laserdisc.

1991 Bayreuth Festival

Anne Evans portrays Brünnhilde in this modernist Bayreuth Festival production by Harry Kupfer with Daniel Barenboim conducting. Poul Elming is Siegmund, Nadine Secunde is Sieglinde, John Tomlinson is Wotan, Matthias Hölle is Hunding and Linda Finnie is Fricka. Hans Schavernoch designed the minimalist sets and Horant H. Hohlfeld directed the video. Color. In German with English subtitles. 153 minutes. Teldec video and laser.

Related films

1915 The Birth of a Nation

Pioneer director D. W. Griffith compiled a potpourri of 19th century classics as the score for his epic movie masterpiece. One piece of music that was featured prominently was "The Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walküre. Videos of performances that use the original score will include the Wagner music. Black and white. 159 minutes. On video.

1936 The Big Broadcast of 1938

Metropolitan Opera star Kirsten Flagstad is featured singing Brünnhilde's battle cry "Ho-jo-to-ho!" with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the baton of Wilfred Pelletier. Flagstad's scene was shot at the Eastern Service Studios at Astoria, Long Island. However, the most famous musical number in the film is not Wagner but the Oscar-winning pop song "Thanks for the Memory" performed by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. Mitchell Leisen directed for Paramount. Black and white. 100 minutes. On video.

1970 The Clowns

Italian director Federico Fellini features "The Ride of the Valkyries" music in this brilliant semi-documentary about the world of clowns. Color. In Italian 93 minutes.

1974 Mahler

One of the most bizarre uses of "The Ride of the Valkyries" music in all cinema occurs in Ken Russell's weird biography of composer Gustav Mahler. Russell wrote new English lyrics to the melody which are sung by Mahler (Robert Powell) and Cosima Wagner (Antonia Ellis) in a symbolic Vahalla scene. The scene is meant to show the composer converting from Judaism to Christianity. Cosmia begins by singing that he is "No longer a Jew boy, now you're a Goy." It's so strange it has to be seen to be believed. The film itself is structured as a flashback with Mahler recalling the events of his life. Color. In English. 115 minutes.

1977 That Obscure Object of Desire

The Die Walküre duet by the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde is featured in the final moments of Cet Oscur Objet du Désir, a satirical film by Luis Buñuel about sexual obsession. Fernando Rey is an old man obsessed with a young woman named Conchita, portrayed by both Carol Bouquet and Angela Molina. At the end of the film a loudspeaker in a Madrid shopping mall gives news about terrorist activity and then plays the duet. As Siegmund explains that at last he knows what has captured his heart, Rey watches a woman sewing threads of fate in a window. A few seconds a bomb blows up the shopping mall. The duet is sung on the loudspeaker by James King and Leonie Rysanek with Karl Böhm conducting. Color. In French. 100 minutes. Embassy video.

1979 Apocalypse Now

Director Francis Ford Coppola made memorable and effective use of music from Die Walküre in his film Apocalypse Now. Air Cavalry Colonel Robert Duvall leads a noisy helicopter charge on the Vietcong by blasting them with "The Ride of the Valkyries" as well as guns and rockets. The music is played by the Vienna Philharmonic led by Georg Solti. Color. 150 minutes. Paramount video.