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Richard Wagner operas
• Die Feen (1834)
• Das Liebesverbot (1836)
• Rienzi (1842)
• Der fliegende Holländer (1843)
• Tannhäuser (1845)
• Lohengrin (1848)
• Tristan und Isolde (1859)
• Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1867)
• Das Rheingold (1869)
• Die Walküre (1870)
• Siegfried (1871)
• Götterdämmerung (1874)
• Parsifal (1882)

“Die Walküre” by Richard Wagner

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The Valkyrie
Die Walküre: German–English Side-by-Side Opera Libretto
Paperback libretto with side-by-side translation

Follow Wagner’s drama with the original German text and a clear English translation printed side-by-side.

See on Amazon – $14.99 →

Premiere / date of written: 26 June 1870

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. Die Walküre's best-known excerpt is the "Ride of the Valkyries".

Wagner took his tale from the Norse mythology told in the Volsunga Saga and the Poetic Edda.

It received its premiere at the National Theatre Munich on 26 June 1870 at the insistence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It premiered in Wagner's Bayreuth Festival as part of the complete cycle on 14 August 1876. The opera made its United States premiere at the Academy of Music in New York on 2 April 1877.

Libretti

German–English side-by-side translation

# Language Authors
1 German Richard Wagner
2 English
3 French Alfred Ernst

original libretto
side-by-side of the original libretto

History

August 14, 1876 Richard Wagner's "Die Walküre" was performed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus for the first time as part of the complete "Der Ring des Nibelungen" cycle, conducted by Hans Richter.

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Similar Theme

  • Tristan und Isolde (1859) — Richard Wagner Both put forbidden love against the rules of the surrounding world. Tristan makes the lovers' inner experience central; Walküre ties love to family and the fate of the gods.
  • Aida (1871) — Giuseppe Verdi Both have lovers divided by loyalties and a larger conflict they cannot control. Aida stays in the human world; Die Walküre connects the tragedy to gods and myth.

Good Next Choice

  • Das Rheingold (1869) — Richard Wagner Rheingold explains the world behind Die Walküre: the ring, Wotan's bargains, and the choices that have already left him trapped.
  • Siegfried (1871) — Richard Wagner Siegfried continues the family story directly. The child whose future drives much of Die Walküre finally becomes the center of the drama.
  • Götterdämmerung (1874) — Richard Wagner Götterdämmerung brings Brünnhilde back to the center and shows the final consequences of the choices Wotan makes in Die Walküre.

Contrasting Companion

  • Medea (1797) — Luigi Cherubini Both put parenthood, love, and terrible choices close together. Brünnhilde tries to protect the next generation; Medea chooses destruction.

Tags

Style / Movement: Late Romantic
Structure: Full-length Through-composed
Source: Mythological source
Theme: Tragic love Supernatural
Discovery: Crowd-pleaser

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Also in German

Images

Printed Editions

Year Edition Publisher Buy
2026 Die Walküre: German–English Side-by-Side Opera Libretto DM’s Opera Series Amazon.com

Audio recordings

Year Cast Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra		 Label,
Comment		 Buy
1965

DM's pick

 James King (Siegmund),
Régine Crespin (Sieglinde),
Hans Hotter (Wotan),
Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde),
Gottlob Frick (Hunding),
Christa Ludwig (Fricka)
 Sir Georg Solti
Wiener Philharmoniker
 CD: Decca Cat: 414 105-2 Stereo, Studio

 Amazon.com

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