Wagner: Die Walkure

Die Walküre continues the story from Das Rheingold, following the twin siblings Siegmund and Sieglinde who fall in love, and the warrior maiden Brünnhilde who defies the god Wotan to protect Siegmund. Wotan punishes Brünnhilde by stripping her of her godhood and surrounding her with a ring of fire, where she will sleep until awakened by a hero. The opera premiered at the National Theatre Munich on June 26, 1870.

The "Ride of the Valkyries" (Walkürenritt) is the famous orchestral passage that opens Act III of Die Walküre, depicting the Valkyrie warrior maidens gathering on a mountaintop after battle. It is one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music ever written, widely used in film and popular culture. The theme was notably featured in the helicopter assault scene of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

Brünnhilde is the favorite daughter of the chief god Wotan and the most prominent Valkyrie in the Ring cycle. In Die Walküre, she defies Wotan's orders by attempting to shield Siegmund in battle, for which Wotan strips her of divinity and leaves her on a fire-encircled rock. Her character arc continues through Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, making her the emotional center of the entire cycle.

Richard Wagner wrote his own libretto for Die Walküre, as he did for all four operas of the Ring cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen). Wagner was unique among major opera composers in creating both the text and the music for his works. The Ring cycle's librettos were completed in reverse order of composition, with the poetry written between 1848 and 1852.