Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.At first there is not a sound, just a naked woman standing in silence on the stage. This is Erda, the eternal, all-knowing Mother Earth, who was a constant presence during Das Rheingold, the first instalment of Barrie Kosky’s new staging of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen 18 months ago.Now he is back for Die Walküre — and Erda is back, too. Kosky is admirably clear-sighted: where many directors tie themselves in knots trying to sort out the complex strands in Wagner’s epic, he has chosen one central theme and is sticking with it.His Royal Opera Ring is a parable of the desecration of nature, witnessed at the start of Das Rheingold when the gold is stolen from the bottom of the Rhine, setting in train the sequence of events that will last through Wagner’s 16-hour cycle.As we move into Die Walküre, the two salient images from Das Rheingold remain with us. Erda (Illona Linthwaite), in her wisdom, looks on in despair and the burnt trunk of the world ash tree lies forlorn, a symbol of man’s thoughtless destruction.Beyond that, this is a spartan-looking Ring. The coming of spring is represented by naked Erda carrying on a dish full of flowers, which produced some unwanted titters. The Valkyries romp about in piles of black ash and it takes time to become clear that these are the charred remains of fallen heroes. The magic fire guarding Brünnhilde’s resting place, though, is a coup de théâtre.It is almost de rigueur these days to populate Wagner’s mythological domain with ordinary characters from 21st-century streets, but this one is more successful than most. Siegmund and Sieglinde, brother and sister, have rarely seemed so vulnerable in the face of world-changing events. Siegmund, sung with warm, romantic tone by Stanislas de Barbeyrac, is a warrior suffering from PTSD. Sieglinde, the vocally fearless Natalya Romaniw, is terrified outside the safety of her home. Neither of the young lovers looks perturbed when Erda unexpectedly joins in for a three-way embrace. Evidently, Mother Earth is not averse to a bit of incest.It is a feature of this Ring that most of the singers are tackling their roles for the first time. Christopher Maltman, playing Wotan as a CEO in a dark suit, a man of action, punches out his words, delivering Wotan’s monologue with vivid clarity — a successful portrayal on his own terms, though he lacks Wagnerian depth of tone and broad-voiced majesty. His Brünnhilde is Elisabet Strid, appealingly fresh and light in manner, very much Wotan’s rebellious daughter here. She is, though, not the usual dramatic soprano and has a long journey ahead if she is to rise to the heroic Brünnhilde of Götterdämmerung.Sturdy bass Soloman Howard makes a convincing job of Hunding as a wife-beating policeman and does a dramatic plunge to his death (hopefully he is covered by insurance). Arriving in a classic car, Marina Prudenskaya plays Fricka as a trophy wife with attitude and sings with glamour, but not very clear words. There is an adequate posse of Valkyries.Newly appointed as the Royal Opera’s first ever conductor laureate, Antonio Pappano never fails to live up to the drama and whips up some mighty climaxes. Try to put the great voices that graced the company’s last production of Die Walküre out of one’s mind and enjoy the novelty of this cast. Whatever reservations one might have, Kosky’s Ring is set on a clear and single-minded trajectory. Let’s stick with it.★★★★☆To May 17, rbo.org.uk
