'Die Walkure' has its place as the second installment of The Ring but it can also stand on its own as a complete operatic work and it is not difficult to see why. It is the story of two star-crossed lovers complicated further by being long-lost brother and sister, and a wilful and strong-minded daughter who is prepared to defy her powerful father in an effort to help the two lovers. Its is a story which appeals to our emotions and Wagner too was just as much intrigued as the rest of us in this twist in his drama.

After completing the two Siegfried dramas, Wagner realised that he had created a situation which was going to require further dramatic intervention instead of merely narrating events. In a letter to Liszt (of November 20th 1851) Wagner explained that it was not merely dramatic expediency to extend his work but also his enthusiasm over the extraordinarily rich dramatic material. “Think of the wonderful yet disastrous love between Siegelind (Sieglinde); Wodan (Wotan) in his deeply mysterious involvement in this love ...”

Wagner's decision to extend the work has the effect of seriously changing the emphasis of his original plan, as Siegfried is no longer the main character in the Nibelung drama, having been replaced by the God, Wotan. The concept had started life as being centred on a German hero, Siegfried, but had developed into a huge complex drama in which a god who is completely wrapped up in his own power is compelled by his own shortcomings to be the architect of his own destruction.

In the first Act of 'Die Walkure', Wagner vividly presents the strength of love in an effort to capture our sympathies for Sieglinde and Siegmund and in a further attempt to persuade us to be sympathetic to them in their adultery and incest. This is to suggest that Wagner himself envisaged love as a simple untroubled form of affectionate companionship oblivious to convention and the bounds of consanguinity together with any qualms about morality.

Turning to the actual music of 'Die Walkure' if we are able to judge by the criteria of Wagner's own suggestions for a new art form, the music-drama in which poetry and music were to be moulded together as never before, then 'Die Walkure' is the most successful of those principles.

The details of music-drama were laid out in detail in Part III of Wagner's essay 'Opera and Drama' (1851). A new vocal line was intended. There would be no more artificial line and no more of the regular melodic construction dictated by the usual four or eight-bar phrases. 'Das Rheingold' was Wagner's first attempt to put these theories into practice and while there are many happy moments, he did not manage to satisfactorily achieve the effect he was striving for. With 'Die Walkure' though, he reached the pinnacle. The work, particularly Act I is full of music-poetic lines that are heavily loaded with dramatic emphasis together with outstanding musicality.

The duet between Sieglinde and Siegmund commences with Wagner remaining true to his principles in that he does not allow the couple to sing together but then the pace eases off slightly for 'Siegmund's “Wintersturme wichen dem wonnemond”. This has attained its own status and is frequently taken out of context and performed separately. Certainly this is something that Wagner could not have foreseen or even hoped for. It is just as certainly something that he would not have wished but its popularity as a separate tenor aria is now so well established that we might just as well bow to inevitable and lie back and enjoy it!

Lauritz Melchior (1890-1973). Please refer to Audio of the Month for December 2004, 'Morgenlich leuchtend.'

Robert Dean Smith (n/a). Please refer to Audio of the Month for December 2004, 'Morgenlich leuchtend.'

Cesare Vezzani (1186-1951). Please refer to Audio of the month for November 2007, 'Ah! Leve-toi soleil.'

Modest Menzinsky (1875-1935). Born April 29th 1875 at Nowosiolsk which is in the Western part of the Ukraine, then called Galizia and belonging at that time to the Austrian Monarchy. His father was a priest of the Greek-Catholic Church, as were all of his male ancestors and it was the profession that he himself, the only male in a family of six children, intended to follow. It was while he was studying theology at Lemburg University that he started to sing in cafes and restaurants in order to earn some money, and his then singing teacher, Walerian Wysoky, gave him the added interest to pursue a singing career. He moved to Frankfurt am Main in 1899 and studied singing there with Julius Stockhausen. He made his debut at Frankfurt in 1901 as Lionel in 'Marta' and in 1903, he moved to Stockholm which was to become his artistic home He sang widely throughout Europe and retired from the operatic stage in 1927, although he remained active as a concert singer and as a renowned voice teacher. He died on December 11th 1935, following a second cerebral hemorrhage.

Riccardo Martin (1874-1952). Born November 18th 1874, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, he was granted an endowment in 1901 which allowed him to study in Paris with Giovanni Sbriglia and Jean de Reske. He completed his studies in Florence with Vincenzo Lombardy and made his debut in 1904 in Nantes, as Faust (Gounod). He first appeared in America in New Orleans, in 1906 and made his NY Metropolitan debut in 1907 in Mefistofele. His operatic career was mainly at the NY Met, but he also appeared at other venues throughout America and Europe. He died in New York on August 11th, 1952.

Piero Pauli (1898-1967). Born Barcelona, 7th May 1898 he first worked in a bank before joining the chorus of the Liceu theatre, Barcelona. He studied singing under Maria Barrientos and Francisco Vignas before completing his training in Italy in 1928. He made his debut in Mefistofele in 1929 and made his first appearance at La Scala in 1930. He had a brilliant career, appearing in the greatest opera houses of Italy and abroad with one success after another. He was also a prolific broadcaster and his stage career lasted from 1929 to 1946. Unfortunately at the end of that year he became seriously ill and moved to be near his daughter who was a doctor in Pisa. He died in San Piero a Grada near Pisa, on 19th April, 1967.

Mystery Tenor
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