Latest news with #RideoftheValkyries
Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Die Walküre: A bleak but brilliant vision of damaged nature and toxic relationships
One major advantage of unveiling a production of Wagner's Ring cycle year by year over four years is that you don't need to decide at the beginning how it will end. The director of the Royal Opera's new year-by-year staging, Barrie Kosky, has said that he does not know how this story will turn out by 2027: in this second instalment, his vision is an unvaryingly bleak and tortured picture of damaged nature and toxic relationships. As in the opening Das Rheingold, the scorched trees and gloomy landscapes of Rufus Didwiszus's sets create a compellingly bare, stripped-back scene of an earth destroyed. The wizened, aged, naked figure of Erda (Illona Linthwaite) observes continually: you feel she has seen it all before, covering her eyes in horror. She oversees interactions for both humans and gods in which we can believe: the awakening, forbidden love of Sieglinde and Siegmund; the fraught relationship between Wotan and his daughter Brünnhilde. There is not much to be gleaned from the first act's dreary blank wall of Sieglinde and Hunding's house, until the moment when the buried sword that Siegmund extracts reveals one of the production's ingenious twists. Solomon Howard's Hunding is a commanding figure (until Wotan dismisses him later with a Tosca-like backward flip), Natalya Romaniw's brightly sung Sieglinde a wife who screams in fear until she realises that Stanislas De Barbeyrac's ardent, lyrical Siegmund is her twin and her love. If this first act is slow to ignite, the second is totally compelling, starting from the crisp, strongly articulated Wotan of Christopher Maltman, whose argument with Marina Prudenskaya's imposing Fricka in purple, arriving in period limousine, is a power marriage all gone wrong. Elisabet Strid's youthful, tomboyish Brünnhilde starts as a rebellious child but quickly matures into an achingly independent adult in her heart-rending scene with her father in which their every fleeting emotion is captured in Kosky's direction. It was always to be expected that Kosky would want to delve into the constant problem of Wagner's anti-Semitism, and here the appearance in Act II of a charred body that is then viciously destroyed prepares the way for a shocking rethinking of the Ride of the Valkyries at the start of Act III, as they collect incinerated bodies, a sensation rescued theatrically only by the individual characterisations of the coven-like Valkyries. Vocally, this is a fascinating Walküre: all the singers, Maltman and Strid especially, but also Romaniw (who came in late to replace the more heavyweight talent Lise Davidsen), are comparatively youthful, fresh voices without a heavy inheritance of years of Wagner singing. The words are paramount, and their impulsiveness is matched by Antonio Pappano's conducting, which drives the music forward, sometimes feeling a little loose, but always effective in pushing the story forwards. Pappano is now Conductor Laureate at the house whose music he directed so effectively for 22 years. Who knows, perhaps a more optimistic vision of the future of humanity may emerge in the remaining instalments of this impressive, stimulating Ring cycle.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘9-1-1' Showrunner On That Helicopter Chase & ‘Apocalypse Now' Connection That Wasn't To Be
SPOILER ALERT: ABC's '' On a typical 9-1-1 episode, this would've been a centerpiece — a chase involving three helicopters around Downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers that ends with a landing on the field of the L.A. Coliseum. More from Deadline Angela Bassett & Tim Minear Dissect '9-1-1' Shocker & Its Fallout And Explain Why [Spoiler] Had To Die '9-1-1' Shocker: Original Cast Member Leaving After 8 Seasons, Admits "It's A Tough Goodbye" '9-1-1' Renewed For Season 9 At ABC But the April 17 episode of ABC's firefighter drama, 'Lab Rats,' was far from typical, marking the exit of star and executive producer Peter Krause. So the impressive stunt was overshadowed by Station 118 Captain Bobby Nash (Krause) dying just minutes later at an underground lab where a fire had triggered the release of a deadly virus. The aerial pursuit involved 118's Buck (Oliver Stark) and his ex Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) leading two military choppers on a decoy mission while Athena (Angela Bassett) rushed to deliver a vial of anti-viral to Bobby's team, one of whom, Chimney (Kenneth Choi), had gotten infected. The plan worked and Chimney lived; it was ultimately Bobby who sacrificed his life for his team. (For Deadline's coverage of Krause's exit, read our story with Krause's comments as well as a Q&A with star/executive producer Bassett and executive producer/showrunner Tim Minear.) Here, Minear discusses the helicopter chase, which was not a CGI trick. 'It was all real,' he said. How did they pulled it off? 'We got helicopters and we got an aerial unit,' he said. 'Basically, I knew that I wanted the LAFD chopper to land on the roof of the building, and for our people to escape that way.' That is a reference of Tommy coming to Buck and Athena's rescue as they were running away from the FBI with the antidote. 'And then Bob Williams, our line producer, who's always giving me more than I asked for — when we did the tsunami, he called me from Mexico and said, 'Would you like to see this ferris wheel collapse into the Pacific as they're racing away on their Zodiacs?', and I'm, like, 'Knock it over', because that wasn't in the script,' Minear recalled. 'So Bob said, 'Anyone can have a helicopter take off from a building. How about if we get two military choppers and have a chase through downtown LA that ends up in the Coliseum?', and I'm like, 'Let's do it'.' He then revealed what the sequence initially looked like. 'Originally, there was a four-minute version of that, which I just loved. And I slapped Wagner over it, it was Ride of the Valkyries, and it was my favorite thing, I watched it a million times,' Minear said. 'It's four-minutes long, I'm like, I'm going to have to probably cut your desk scene short, because I'm so in love with this.' In its original form, the sequence was clearly an homage to what likely is the most famous helicopter scene ever in Apocalypse Now, which also is four-minute-long and was set to Wagner's music. But it didn't make it to air. 'Eventually the network in the studio talked sense to me, and they're like, it really can't be Ride of the Valkyries, and it can't be four minutes,' Minear said. Best of Deadline 'Ransom Canyon' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The New Netflix Western Romance Series Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far Everything We Know About Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners': From The Themes To How It Was Shot
Observer
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Classical music at Coachella? LA Philharmonic makes desert debut
The Los Angeles Philharmonic led the charge into their first Coachella performance on Saturday with the "Ride of the Valkyries," helmed by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, in his latest move to reach out to new audiences. The first major orchestra to grace the annual music and arts festival in the Southern California desert was joined by several vocalists, including jazz pop singer Laufey, who debuted her new song "Silver Lining", and Becky G with her pop song "Shower." Country singer Maren Morris arrived on the stage in a shimmering gold dress, delivering her gospel number "My Church" alongside a majority Black choir. FILE PHOTO: People attend the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, U.S., April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo Perhaps the most anticipated guest, German record producer and DJ Zedd, hopped on the piano and the choir, in yellow gowns, joined him for his popular 2012 song "Clarity." LL Cool J arrived in a yellow hoodie and took audiences far from the classical ambiance into his popular rap song "Mama Said Knock You Out." In a special moment on stage, LL Cool J presented Dudamel with a yellow hat that matched both the rapper and the choir. Classical music at Coachella? LA Philharmonic makes desert debut The musical set included a host of classical pieces, including Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". The LA Philharmonic, considered one of the world's top orchestras, has been long admired for snaring Venezuelan sensation Dudamel more than 15 years ago. The maestro, 44, is set to take over as music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026. —Reuters
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Classical music at Coachella? LA Philharmonic makes desert debut
By Danielle Broadway INDIO, California (Reuters) -The Los Angeles Philharmonic led the charge into their first Coachella performance on Saturday with the "Ride of the Valkyries," helmed by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, in his latest move to reach out to new audiences. The first major orchestra to grace the annual music and arts festival in the Southern California desert was joined by several vocalists, including jazz pop singer Laufey, who debuted her new song "Silver Lining", and Becky G with her pop song "Shower." Country singer Maren Morris arrived on the stage in a shimmering gold dress, delivering her gospel number "My Church" alongside a majority Black choir. Perhaps the most anticipated guest, German record producer and DJ Zedd, hopped on the piano and the choir, in yellow gowns, joined him for his popular 2012 song "Clarity." LL Cool J arrived in a yellow hoodie and took audiences far from the classical ambiance into his popular rap song "Mama Said Knock You Out." In a special moment on stage, LL Cool J presented Dudamel with a yellow hat that matched both the rapper and the choir. The musical set included a host of classical pieces, including Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". The LA Philharmonic, considered one of the world's top orchestras, has been long admired for snaring Venezuelan sensation Dudamel more than 15 years ago. The maestro, 44, is set to take over as music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
Reuters
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Classical music at Coachella? LA Philharmonic makes desert debut
INDIO, California, April 12 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Philharmonic led the charge into their first Coachella performance on Saturday with the "Ride of the Valkyries," helmed by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, in his latest move to reach out to new audiences. The first major orchestra to grace the annual music and arts festival in the Southern California desert was joined by several vocalists, including jazz pop singer Laufey, who debuted her new song "Silver Lining", and Becky G with her pop song "Shower." Country singer Maren Morris arrived on the stage in a shimmering gold dress, delivering her gospel number "My Church" alongside a majority Black choir. Perhaps the most anticipated guest, German record producer and DJ Zedd, hopped on the piano and the choir, in yellow gowns, joined him for his popular 2012 song "Clarity." LL Cool J arrived in a yellow hoodie and took audiences far from the classical ambiance into his popular rap song "Mama Said Knock You Out." In a special moment on stage, LL Cool J presented Dudamel with a yellow hat that matched both the rapper and the choir. The musical set included a host of classical pieces, including Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". The LA Philharmonic, considered one of the world's top orchestras, has been long admired for snaring Venezuelan sensation Dudamel more than 15 years ago. The maestro, 44, is set to take over as music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
