The Los Angeles Philharmonic's towering production of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and designed by Frank Gehry began on May 19 with a tempestuous tremolo in the lower strings and ended three days later with Walt Disney Concert Hall bathed in a Magic Fire of shimmering flutes, piccolo and no less than six harps.
A stellar cast was led by Ryan Speedo Green (as Wotan), Christine Goerke (as Brünnhilde), Jamez McCorkie (as Siegmund), and Jessica Faselt (as Sieglinde). They were performances that magnetized while (literally) stretching the boundaries of time and space.
Die Walküre marks the second Ring of the Nibelung collaboration between Dudamel and Gehry (who passed away Dec. 5, 2025). Das Rheingold was presented in January 2024. And while no word has been officially announced, it's been hinted that Gehry left behind initial sketches for Siegfried.
By presenting Die Walküre over the course of three days (with a repeat of the series May 22–24) the Philharmonic avoided the massive expense of paying overtime that a traditional staging would have incurred. On the other hand, the economics were less favorable for the audience that, in order to see the entire opera, was required to purchase three tickets instead of one.
On entering the auditorium, the immensity of Gehry's design scheme loomed over the stage as an enormous cloudbank of crumpled white paper, created by Tomas Osinski. Over the course of the opera they transformed (by use of projections) into boulders, towering tree trunks, lightning-blazing thunderheads and a shimmering Magic Fire. The drama played out below the clouds on a series of platforms connected by steps above and behind and the orchestra and a forestage walkway between Dudamel and the audience that stretched all the way across the hall.
These were performances that fulfilled Wagner's vision of opera as an all-enveloping dramatic/musical/visual experience combining panoramic orchestral tone painting with vocal grandeur and theatrical fireworks.
Wagner was a master craftsman, both in his musical calculations and understanding of dramatic structure. The flow of Die Walküre is a single musical and dramatic arc that contrasts with the first opera in the cycle, Das Rheingold, which ends with a lofty, if ironic, scene as the Gods enter Valhalla. The first act of Walküre is human scaled, involving just three characters.
The second act (the most dialog heavy in the entire Ring) unfolds as a Teutonic version of Sophocles’s Oresteia trilogy. It begins with an enraged wife, Fricka (sung with punch by Sarah Saturnino) raking her husband, Wotan, over the coals for his mockery of marriage— his adulterous adventures having fathered not just the Volsungs, Siegmund and Sieglinde, but an entire air force of Valkyries. Wotan is forced into submission by the logic of his wife's argument, sealing the death of Siegmund. But the Valkyrie Brünnhilde disobeys her father's command, setting up a dramatic confrontation in the third act, which ends with a partial reconciliation and, of course, magic fire.
Act three holds Gehry’s big surprise — a herd of seemingly life-size translucent horses, the mighty steeds of the Valkyries. Their entrance, urged on by Dudamel's rapier-like baton, raised the roof! The act was also star-turn for Gehry's scenic concept and the fantastical lighting effects created by Shutter Cut Lighting Design The sequential photography and projections were created by Omar Cerrada.
This third act combines the power of the Valkyrie maidens and the wrath of Wotan, which is overcome by the pleading of Brünnhilde, leading to her slumber surrounded by flames as she awaits the arrival of Siegfried. Christine Goerke was a perfect Brünnhilde with a powerful voice that rang with Wagnerian fervor. She was matched in power and intensity by Green, who gave an authoritative performance.
When it all came to an end, and the entire cast and orchestra filled the stage to take their bows, one person was sadly missing — Frank Gehry. It was nice to think that he was there in spirit, sitting in his favorite seat, smiling.
