Die Walküre

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) is the second of the four opera that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at Munich's National Theatre on 26 June 1870. It is the source of the famous piece Ride of the Valkyries.Wagner took his tale from the Norse mythology told in the Volsunga saga. This act hinges on hidden identities that are known to the audience. (Wagner uses this situation in operas that are not part of the Ring: in the operas bearing their respective names, Parsifal does not know his own name, and his son Lohengrin is forbidden to reveal his.) The program tells even the first-time viewer the names of the characters, and, from his leitmotif and his covering his missing eye with his hat, the "stranger" or "old man" (described but not seen on stage) and Wotan, Wolfe, and the Wanderer who will appear in Siegfried can be recognized as one and the same individual. Siegmund (whose name means "victory protector or shield")... full article at wikipedia