Let's face it. If you have only one reason to sit through the opera Die Walkure (The Valkyries), then it is surely for the beginning of Act III.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
That's when one of composer Richard Wagner's best known works - The Ride of the Valkyries - pulsates around the theatre with the titular warriors in full voice.
You all know it. The music has been used in countless movies (yes, the helicopter gunship attack in Apocalypse Now), TV shows, commercials and even cartoons from Bugs Bunny to The Simpsons.
As soon as the violinists in the orchestra deliver those intense swoops across the strings, you can't help but start humming the 'da-da-da da da, da-da-da da da' melody in gleeful anticipation, long before the horns and trombones and the rest of the brass section join in.
And then there's the singers. The warrior sisters known as the Valkyries hitting those glorious high notes will have the hair standing on the back of your neck in a thrilling and adrenaline-filled high octane performance.
RELATED NEWS:
Die Walkure in the second opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle which is midway through its second run at Bendigo's Ulumbarra Theatre.
The scene for epic tale was established in the first opera Das Rheingold which featured giants, dwarfs, a race of people called Nibelungs, Rhinemaidens and gods.
In Die Walkure, the focus switches to the world of humans. Siegmund (James Egglestone) stumbles exhausted into a stranger's house having fled from his enemies.
There he meets Sieglunde (Lee Abrahmsen) and the pair fall in love, despite his hostess being already married.
Her husband Hunding (Steven Gallop) turns up and is suspicious from the outset. When it is revealed Siegmund is related to the enemies of Hunding, the latter states the pair will fight to the death at dawn.
After Hunding retires for the night, Sieglunde encourages Siegmund to pull the sword Nothung from a massive ash tree in the house and restore honour to the Walsung clan. It then transpires Sieglunde and Siegmund are actually brother and sister, twins in fact, separated as young children.
Nevertheless, Siegmund rescues Sieglunde from her forced marriage with Hunding and claims her as his own bride, infuriating the goddess of marriage Fricka (Sarah Sweeting).
Fricka insists her husband Wotan (Warwick Fyfe) defend the rite of marriage and allow Siegmund to fall in battle. It puts the lord of the gods in a bind as he has in the past instructed his daughter - the Valkyrie Brunnhilde (Antoinette Halloran) - to protect Siegmund.
When the time comes for Siegmund to confront Hunding, a conflicted Brunnhilde tries to save Siegmund only to have an angry Wotan intervene.
Wotan shatters Siegmund's sword, leaving him defenceless to be slain by Hunding. Brunnhilde flees Wotan's wrath with Sieglunde to the mountaintop where the the Valkyrie's eight warrior sisters bear fallen heroes to Valhalla, the home of the gods.
Cue the stirring Ride of the Valkyries number, setting the scene for a dramatic climax. A furious Wotan arrives and banishes the disobedient Brunnhilde, placing her in a deep sleep on a rock surrounded by flames where she will lie until a man brave enough to overcome the perils can rescue her.
As the drama unfolds, it is revealed that Sieglunde is pregnant and the inference is the child she gives birth to may just be the hero Brunnhilde requires to wake her from her slumber.
It's a sweeping saga full of sumptuous costumes, wondrous set designs and dramatic music and it's attracting 'Ring-nuts' to Bendigo in their hordes.
The second Ring Cycle continues on Friday, April 14 with the third opera Siegfried, and concludes on Sunday, April 16 with the opera Gotterdammerung.
The third Ring Cycle begins on Friday, April 21 and plays over two weekends.
Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.
