The Icelandic Opera Cancels DIE WALKÜRE Due to COVID-19

The Icelandic Opera has canceled their upcoming production of DIE WALKÜRE due to Covid-19.

In a statement to Opera Wire the opera stated "due to the pandemic and it's consequences, Wagner's 'Die Walküre' has been canceled. The production was planned in collaboration with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Reykjavik Arts Festival. The performances were planned in Harpa on the 24th and 26th of February 2022. The recent development in the pandemic both in Iceland and abroad, unfortunately, makes it impossible to proceed with the performances of the opera as planned."

DIE WALKÜRE is a collaborative effort of the , the Icelandic Opera, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Reykjavík Arts Festival and is a coproduction with Opera National de Bordeaux, France.

Richard's Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung is without doubt one of the most ambitious operatic works in the history of Western music. It comprises four separate operas, which Wagner based not only on the German Nibelungenlied but also on the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and Völsunga Saga, which he had in German translation. He worked for a quarter-century on the Ring cycle, which puts his genius as composer and librettist on full display.

The story line of The Valkyrie comes largely from Völsunga Saga. A tempest is raging, and Siegmund seeks shelter in the home of Sieglinde and her husband, Hunding. He and Sieglinde fall in love, and the Valkyrie Brünnhilde, daughter of Wotan, disobeys her father by helping Siegmund in his bid to fight a duel with Hunding. Wotan punishes her by stripping her of her divine status as a Valkyrie, transforming her into a mortal woman. He condemns her to lie sleeping on the mountain surrounded by flames until an intrepid hero awakens her with a kiss.

This opulent musical drama is one of the masterpieces of the 19th century, and the famous Ride of the Valkyries is well known to most music lovers. This is the first time The Valkyrie has been performed in its entirety in Iceland and the first time since 2002 that a full Wagner opera has been programmed. Soprano Irène Theorin sings Brünnhilde, a role she has sung at many leading venues in the world. Wotan is sung by Ólafur Kjartan Sigurðarson, and the Valkyries are performed by a stunning group of Icelandic singers.

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