Speakeysie News Desk

ATLANTA- The Atlanta Opera – “one of the most exciting opera companies in America” (Opera Wire) – closes its mainstage 2023-24 season with the second of the milestone Der Ring des Nibelungen operas by Richard Wagner in General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun’s new production of Die Walküre. Performances are SAT 27 APR at 6:30pm; TUE 30 APR at 6:30pm; FRI 3 MAY at 6:30pm; SUN 5 MAY at 2pm at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center (2800 Cobb Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta). Performance time for Die Walküre is 4 hours, 25 minutes.  This production is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Knobloch, Jr., Howard Hunter of the Gramma Fisher Foundation, The Atlanta Music Festival Fund of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and The Halle Foundation of Atlanta.

Developed with the same design team that created the “splendid production” (ArtsATL) of Das Rheingold last spring, Die Walküre builds on the spectacular cinematic imagery and timeless setting created by scenic and projections designer Erhard Rom and lighting designer Robert Wierzel that puts an ageless frame around the production.  The team, which has created celebrated productions of Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Salome, Lucia di Lammermoor, La bohème, and Silent Night, will be joined by costume designer Mattie Ulrich (winner of the European Opera Prize) and live-action designer Ran Arthur Braun (winner of the Opernwelt Award).

This is the first time Die Walküre has been presented by The Atlanta Opera. Music Director Arthur Fagenconducts.  As with all mainstage presentations at The Atlanta Opera, the production will be filmed by The Atlanta Opera Film Studio and available free on livestream on Friday, May 3, 2024, at stream/atlantaopera.org.

Die Walküre

Die Walküre – the second of the four music dramas that make up Richard Wagner’s monumental Der Ring das Nibelungen – is slated to be followed by the third, Siegfried, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre next season. A transitional story, Die Walküre carries the plot from the loss of the ring of power to the giant Fafner at the end of Rheingold to the further experiences of the gods, dwarves, and humans as they continue their pursuit of the ring. The Valkyries (“Die Walküre”) are the daughters of Wotan, king of the gods of Valhalla, and Erde, the earth goddess. These eight female warriors are tasked with carrying the honored dead from the battlefield to Valhalla. The beloved and eldest warrior daughter, Brünnhilde, defies her father, which leads to the heroic exploits of Siegfried.

Director Tomer Zvulun says, “Die Walküre is the most romantic of the Ring operas and my personal favorite. We have been building the company toward realizing this vision for more than a decade now. The time has arrived, now, to bring to Atlanta this monumental production starring a group of sensational singers.”

Die Walküre’s outstanding cast will be led by bass-baritone Greer Grimsley who reprises his role as Wotan and whose “commanding presence and sonorous voice” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) led last season’s Rheingold. Since first singing the role in Seattle in 2005, he has performed it to acclaim around the world, including in three complete Ring cycles in Seattle, at his Bayreuth debut in 2018, and in the reprise of Robert LePage’s landmark production at the Metropolitan Opera the following year. Grimsley will be joined by tenor Viktor Antipenko as Siegmund in his house debut. Called “…bolt upright and heroic as Siegmund” (Classical Voice America), Antipenko is acclaimed for his work in the role as he “radiated a strange ethereal beauty” and “provided some of the night’s best singing” (Victoria Times Colonist). Dramatic soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer is known for her roles in the Ring at The Metropolitan Opera, Detroit Opera, Seattle Opera, and others but makes her role debut here as Brünnhilde.  American soprano Laura Wilde comes to the role of Sieglinde after triumphs performing the title role of Janáček’s Jenůfa with both the Santa Fe Opera and the English National Opera. The 2019 Richard Tucker Foundation career grant recipient was called “a revelation” and “superlative” by the Houston Press. “Show-stopping” (Voix des Arts) Mezzo-soprano Gretchen Krupp makes her role debut as Fricka. Krupp is beloved by Atlanta audiences with appearances throughout her tenure as a Glynn Studio Artist.

Tickets start at $48 and can be purchased online at AtlantaOpera.org or by calling The Atlanta Opera ticket office at 404-881-8885. Special program tickets: Organized student groups in grades 6 to 12 are welcome at the final dress rehearsal; Veterans and active military are offered free tickets to any performance with advance online reservations; Pride Night is Tuesday’s performance; Forte Friday is offered to young professionals with an enhanced ticket that includes a cocktail and reception. Student, senior, and military “Rush” tickets are available 2-hours prior to each performance for $25 or $35 each. In-person purchase and current I.D. is required.

Die Walküre is sung in German with English supertitles.

Affiliated Events

Behind The Atlanta Opera’s Ring
Pre-production Symposium
Saturday, April 27 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
11am – 4pm
Free with registration
Opening day of Die Walküre starts with a free symposium featuring a panel discussion and lecture presentation. The design team, led by Tomer Zvulun and Erhard Rom, will present and discuss the ideas behind their decisions in creating Das Rheingold (2023), Die Walküre (2024), as well as looking ahead to Siegfried (2025). Speakers will include Grammy Award-winning tenor Jay Hunter Morris and Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean. Link to registration.  

Opera Insights with Jay Hunter Morris
Free to ticket holders
One hour prior to each performance
Doors open for general seating in the performance hall for a 30-minute presentation about the evening’s performance. 

Community Connections
Identity & Conflict: An Evening of Music and Reflection
Wednesday, May 1 at The Temple
6:30pm
Tickets $18 and $25
The Atlanta Opera presents Another Sunrise by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer followed by a panel discussion. The work for soprano and chamber ensemble presents the conflict faced by a Jewish woman who denies her identity to save her life during WWII. The Atlanta Opera presents this work to honor Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls during the Opera’s mainstage performances of Die Walküre by Richard Wagner (a controversial anti-Semite whose brilliant works are effectively banned in Israel to this day). Raising the questions of identity, personal choices, social pressures, and living in the world today, this concert and panel discussion seeks to examine the choices people make during a crisis. Further, the evening is an opportunity to discuss the dangers of bigotry, especially in the hands of influential artists. Esther Tonea is the soprano. Clinton Smith conducts. Panel members include Rabbi Peter S. Berg, Tomer Zvulun, and Gene Scheer.
Link to purchase

About The Atlanta Opera

The Atlanta Opera’s mission is to break the boundaries of opera to create exceptional experiences for audiences everywhere. Founded in 1979, the company works with world-renowned singers, conductors, directors, and designers who seek to enhance the art form. Under the leadership of internationally recognized stage director and Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera expanded from three to four mainstage productions at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and launched the acclaimed “Discoveries” event series, and the innovative 96-Hour Opera Project. In recent years, the company has been named among the “Best of 2015” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has been nominated in 2016 and 2023 for an International Opera Award, received an ArtsATL’s 2019 Luminary Award for Community Engagement in recognition of its successful Veterans Program in partnership with the Home Depot Foundation, the 2023 Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities recognized the excellence of the 96-Hour Opera Project. In addition, The Atlanta Opera was featured in a 2018 Harvard Business School case study about successful organizational growth, and Zvulun presented a TEDx Talk at Emory University titled “The Ambidextrous Opera Company, or Opera in the Age of iPhones.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Atlanta Opera was one of the only companies in the world to create a full, alternative season, consisting of no less than 40 live performances in two different outdoor venues, including a revolutionary custom-designed circus tent. The critically acclaimed productions and concerts were streamed in HD on the newly created streaming platform “Atlanta Opera Film Studio,” which continues to allow The Atlanta Opera to reach a global audience. National media coverage of the “pandemic season” included features in the Wall Street Journal and PBS NewsHour. Reflecting on the company’s achievements over the past decade, Musical America declared, “The Atlanta Opera Has Arrived.”

About Tomer Zvulun

Carl W. Knobloch Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun raised the company from a struggling regional company to one of the top 10 opera companies in the United States since taking the helm in 2013. Consistently named as one of the most influential leaders in Atlanta by Atlanta Magazine, Zvulun is also among The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s  “Everyday Heroes” for his innovative work building The Atlanta Opera, with special mention of its award-winning Veterans Program sponsored by Home Depot, the Discoveries Series, and the 96-Hour Opera Project, which was recognized by a Governor’s Arts and Humanities Award for the company’s advocating of underrecognized composers and librettists in the creation of new operas.