Product Details

• Actors: Jeannine Altmeyer, Katie Clarke, Elisabeth Glauser, Ilse Gramatzki, Peter Hofmann
• Directors: Brian Large
• Writers: Richard Wagner
• Format: Classical, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Unknown (DTS 5.1), Unknown (PCM Stereo), German (DTS 5.1), German (PCM Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, French
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
• DVD Release Date: August 9, 2005
• Run Time: 216 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00092ZAOA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,616 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Wagner: Die Walkure - Boulez Ring Cycle Part 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Wagner's ideas of "racial purity" reach a logical conclusion in Act I of Die Walküre, powerfully performed in this Bayreuth production. Siegfried, the tragic hero of the cycle, is begotten in an adulterous, incestuous mating of Siegmund (Peter Hoffmann) and Sieglinde (Jeanne Altmeyer), a twin brother and sister. No miscegenation here.

Siegfried will not be seen until the next opera in the cycle. For now, the Valkyries (after their famous, musically spectacular ride) are asked to protect Sieglinde, his pregnant mother-to-be, until he can be born. His father is killed in a fight with Hunding, Sieglinde's brutish husband, with Wotan intervening against his will to help the wronged spouse. Wotan has been forced by his wife Fricka, who is the goddess of marriage, elegantly played by Hanna Schwartz. Her victory is a striking display of Wotan's diminishing powers. Brunnhilde, Wotan's daughter and leader of the Valkyries (Gwyneth Jones), disobeys a paternal prohibition, rescues Sieglinde and hides her in safety to wait out her pregnancy. For this, she is punished by losing her divine status and being left asleep for years, surrounded by a circle of magic fire, until a hero (Siegfried, who has not yet been born) will come to rescue her.

This episode is extremely well-sung, with particularly notable work by Hoffmann, Altmeyer, Schwartz, Jones and Donald McIntyre as Wotan, while conductor Pierre Boulez and director Patrice Chéreau work smoothly together to define the opera's overall form and continuity. --Joe McLellan

Product Description

WAGNER:DIE WALKURE - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Riveting Walkure, January 30, 2002

By 

DGlo (Monroe, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wagner - Die Walkure / Boulez, Jones, Altmeyer, Schwarz, Hofmann, Bayreuth Festival (Ring Cycle Part 2) (DVD)

We now have two Walkure DVDs on the market, the other being the reknowned Met production, conducted by James Levine. This version from Bayreuth is conducted more briskly, and less broadly, by Pierre Boulez. The production is much more abstract than the Met's realistic scenery and costumes, and it was quite controversial during its first incarnation in the 1970s. Patrice Chereau, the director, lets the eroticism of Act I flow freely. Jeanine Altmeyer and Peter Hoffmann sing beautifully as Sieglinde and Siegmund, and they certainly look their parts, young and beautiful. Hunding is presented as a truly violent and menacing presence, along with his henchmen, an innovative idea not seen in other productions. In Act II, Wotan and Brunnhilde are portrayed by Donald McIntyre and Gwyneth Jones. His singing is commendable, but he is eclipsed by the magestic James Morris of the Met's DVD. Jones has all guns blazing as Brunnhilde, perhaps too much vocal power, but she is a valiant warrior-maiden, perhaps falling short in the heroine's vulnerability, which Hildegard Behrens portrays so eloquently in the Met's DVD. By Act III, everyone's merits are a known quantity -- the father-daughter confrontation is more moving in the Met's version, but this DVD is also quite fine, with Altmeyer's superior Sieglinde vs Jessie Norman's diva-ish Sieglinde. If you're a fan of Wagner's Ring, you really need to have both.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A shining performance, February 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Wagner - Die Walkure / Boulez, Jones, Altmeyer, Schwarz, Hofmann, Bayreuth Festival (Ring Cycle Part 2) (DVD)

This is really a shining performance. The staging, though rather innovative at the time, serves the drama well. And this must be visually one of the most satisfying cast ever assembled for this opera. Hofmann and Altmeyer are just perfect as the Walsung twins, McIntyre is a commanding Wotan and Jones a magnificent and immensely likeable Brunnhilde. The other cast members are very fine, too. The singing is of almost the same high standards. Those who're of the view that Boulez's interpretation is "cool" should really listen to this recording, for his interpretation, a swift moving one, is full of drama, intensity and even sensual beauty. A very enjoyable viewing and listening experience indeed!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hugely entertaining production, September 9, 2002

By 

Graham Sinclair - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wagner - Die Walkure / Boulez, Jones, Altmeyer, Schwarz, Hofmann, Bayreuth Festival (Ring Cycle Part 2) (DVD)

This is a hugely entertaining production. In fact, this is probably the most successful part of the Boulez/Chereau Ring cycle production for the centenary Bayreuth Festival. The vocal cast is the strongest in this opera and everybody acts convincingly. The Valkyries "rock" is an interesting piece of stage design, too. Brilliant!