Die Walküre | Wagner
Performances 2026: 22 Nov | 6 Dec
Opera Forge, the newest London-based opera company, launches in London in November and December 2026 with two semi-staged concert performances of Wagner’s Die Walküre, performed in German — a work at the heart of the dramatic operatic tradition. The production will be directed by the legendary bass Sir John Tomlinson, celebrated worldwide for his portrayals of Wotan at Bayreuth and on the world’s greatest stages. Kelvin Lim, Opera Forge’s Artistic and Musical Director, will conduct Orpheus Sinfonia. See all details including full cast below.
Opera Forge was born from a belief: great voices in great repertoire need real stages, not just practice rooms.
Die Walküre is the second opera in Wagner’s monumental Ring of the Nibelung cycle and centres on love, fate, and the clash between divine law and human desire.
The story follows the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde, separated in childhood, who meet again as adults and fall in love. Their forbidden union defies the will of the gods but gives rise to a hero capable of challenging the existing order. Wotan, ruler of the gods, is torn between his need to uphold his own laws and his secret hope for freedom from them.
At the heart of the opera is Brünnhilde, one of the Valkyries, tasked with carrying fallen heroes to Valhalla. Moved by compassion, she disobeys Wotan to protect Siegmund. Her defiance has devastating consequences: Siegmund is killed, Sieglinde flees carrying his unborn child, and Brünnhilde is punished by being stripped of her immortality.
The opera ends with one of Wagner’s most poignant scenes, as Wotan, both furious and heartbroken, surrounds the sleeping Brünnhilde with a ring of magic fire — a barrier only a truly fearless hero may cross.
