I Die Walkiire,' Act 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra
(Leader, Andrew Cooper )
Conducted by Karl Rankl
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano)
Joai. Cross (soprano)
Norman Walker (bass)
From the Royal Albert Hall , London
The Valkyrie is the second of the four music dramas comprising The Ring of the Nibelung. The scene of the third Act is a rocky mountain, with storm clouds overhead. In the flashes of lightning the Valkyries are seen riding on horseback, with the bodies of slain warriors hanging from their saddles. But Briinnhilde, fleeing from the wrath of Wotan, brings with her. not a warrior, but Sieglinde, whom she persuades to escape into the forest to give birth to 'the highest hero of the world.' The stern voice of Wotan is then heard. Because she has disobeyed him and aided Siegmund in his battle with Hunding, Wotan condemns Briinnhilde to be no more a goddess, but a woman only. She is to be laid asleep, to fall into the hands of the first man who shall find and awaken her. But his love for her causes him to relent so far as to place round her a circle of Are. through which only a hero can penetrate.—HAROLD RUTLAND