Tune in to watch a free broadcast of this event, live from the Klein Music Tent. 

The 75th anniversary season comes to an overpowering conclusion with one of the most spectacular and moving acts in all of opera, the finale of Wagner’s Die Walküre. You’ll immediately recognize the iconic Ride of the Valkyries which opens the act. The eight Valkyries are the products of the god Wotan’s affair with the earth’s wisdom goddess Erda. Their job is to carry slain heroes to the afterlife in Valhalla on their flying horses. At the beginning of the act, Wotan’s favorite daughter Brünnhilde is missing. She finally appears, but not with a fallen warrior. Instead, it’s Sieglinde, whom Wotan had fathered with a wolf along with her twin brother Siegmund. The twins committed incest back in Act One, and now Sieglinde is pregnant with the future hero Siegfried. Wotan’s wife Fricka, goddess of marriage, didn’t approve of the situation, and pressured Wotan to arrange for Siegmund to die in Act Two. Brünnhilde tried to intervene to save Siegmund, enraging Wotan. To punish her defiance, Wotan strips Brünnhilde of her godhood and plans to put her into a magical sleep to be available to the first man who finds her. Horrified by this prospect, Brünnhilde convinces Wotan to surround her by fire so that only a brave hero can awaken her.

Wagner superstars Christine Goerke and Greer Grimsley sing Brünnhilde and Wotan with members of Aspen Opera Theatre/VocalArts appearing as the Valkyries.

The concert opens with a concert favorite from the opera stage. Berlioz’s The Royal Hunt and Storm from Les Troyens is an evocative, beautifully orchestrated interlude. The setting is a forest where a hunt is taking place until a storm causes the hunters to scatter. Dido and Aeneas enter a cave where they watch nymphs, satyrs, and fauns dance in the darkness. When the storm passes, the hunt resumes.

Also on the program is Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto, written in one continuous movement unified by a single exquisite theme. The piece is a roller coaster of contrasts ranging from soft, lyrical passages to thunderous, dramatic cadenzas which show off the soloist’s virtuosity.

Top off the 75th anniversary season with a gorgeous interlude by Berlioz, pianistic pyrotechnics, and the unforgettable drama of Wagner’s Die Walküre sung by internationally renowned soloists!