James Levine Conducts Metropolitan Opera's 'Die Walküre' 4/22-5/14

Met Music Director James Levine leads the new production premiere of Die Walküre, Robert Lepage's staging of the second opera in Wagner's cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. The production opens Friday, April 22, with an exceptional cast of Wagnerian singers, most of whom are singing their roles for the first time at the Met. Deborah Voigt sings her first-ever performances of Brünnhilde, the Valkyrie of the title; Bryn Terfel, in a North American role debut, is her disapproving father Wotan; Stephanie Blythe is the imposing queen of the gods, Fricka; Eva-Maria Westbroek, in her Met debut, and Jonas Kaufmann, in his role debut, are the long-separated twins Sieglinde and Siegmund; and Hans-Peter König makes his Met role debut as Sieglinde's jealous husband, Hunding. The May 14 matinee of the opera will be transmitted live to 1500 movie theaters in 46 countries around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD.

Lepage's production of the opera combines cutting-edge video and scenic technology with traditional costuming to create Wagner's world of gods and heroes. Die Walküre employs the same flexible computerized set seen in the season-opening production of Das Rheingold, which will shift and adapt to create 22 settings and scenes-including the forest hut of Hunding and Sieglinde, the jagged mountaintop where Valkyries bring the bodies of dead heroes, and the flaming rock where Wotan forces Brünnhilde into supernatural slumber.

Levine, who has conducted every complete Ring cycle at the Met since 1989, will lead all seven performances of Die Walküre this season. Two of the stars of Die Walküre, Deborah Voigt and Jonas Kaufmann, are singing their respective roles for the first time ever. Brünnhilde will be Voigt's sixth Wagner heroine at the Met, where her repertory has included Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, and Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer; next season, she will sing Brünnhilde in complete Ring cycles at the Met. Kaufmann, who returns to the Met next season in the title role of Des McAnuff's production of Faust, has become well-known for accomplished performances in a varied repertory. His performances at the Met have included Alfredo in La Traviata, Cavaradossi in Tosca, and Don José in Carmen, while internationally he has sung the title roles in Lohengrin and Werther, Florestan in Fidelio, and the Chevalier des Grieux in Manon. Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek makes her Met debut as Sieglinde. A leading international soprano, her roles in recent seasons have included Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Minnie in La Fanciulla del West, and the title role in Mark-Anthony Turnage's world premiere production of Anna Nicole at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. She has sung Sieglinde at Bayreuth, San Francisco Opera, and Frankfurt Opera.

Three singers from the new production premiere of Das Rheingold return for Die Walküre. Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel returns as Wotan, his tenth role at the Met, where he most recently sang Scarpia in Tosca during the 2009-10 season. Terfel's other Met roles have included Wolfram in Tannhaüser and the title roles in Falstaff, Don Giovanni, and Le Nozze di Figaro. Stephanie Blythe sings Fricka, a role she first sang at the Met in the 2007-08 season under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Her broad Met repertory encompasses a variety of composers and styles, ranging from Handel and Gluck to Puccini and Verdi to Wagner. In the Met's 2011-12 season, she will make her Met role debut as Amneris in Aida, reprise her Eduige in Handel's Rodelinda, and sing Fricka in complete Ring cycles. Hans-Peter König, who sang the giant Fafner in Das Rheingold, will make his Met role debut as Hunding. He made his Met debut last season as Sarastro in Die Zaüberflote and also sang Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer.

Lepage's production team for Die Walküre includes Associate Director Neilson Vignola, set designer Carl Fillion, costume designer François St-Aubin, lighting designer Etienne Boucher, and video image artist Boris Firquet.

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