Richard Wagner: Die Walkure - The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
It's no surprise that the second opera in Wagner's epicRingcycle,Die Walküre, is the one Deutsche Grammophon released first on DVD: it's by far the most popular of the four parts ofThe Ring, from the thrilling Act I love duet for its brother and sister lovers, Siegmund and Sieglinde, to the spectacular finale of the "Magic Fire Music," as the god Wotan puts his beloved but disobedient daughter Brünnhilde into a deep sleep (no jokes, please!), over four hours later.  This 1990 Metropolitan Opera production, originally broadcast on PBS to great acclaim, has been stunningly transferred to digital disc.Musically, of course, is where any worthyRingearns its keep, and under James Levine, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra makes the most sumptuous Wagnerian sounds of any current orchestra, as the dazzlingly fresh-sounding "Ride of the Valkyries" makes abundantly clear. The ravishing  music is not solely instrumental, of course; the principal cast--Gary Lakes  (Siegmund), Jessye Norman (Sieglinde), Hildegard Behrens (Brünnhilde), and  especially James Morris (Wotan)--more than handles the vocal and acting demands,  even those long stretches of unbelievably difficult singing passages that Wagner  demands. This Otto Schenk production has taken its lumps for its conventional  approach to Wagner's mythic music-drama. But it's an easy first approach for  newcomers, and it's actually a rarity nowadays--among countless  deconstructionist approaches--that manyRing-lovers will enjoyDie  Walkürein its original setting and context.--Kevin Filipski