Wotan’s speech in Act II of Die Walkure describes his need for someone who can help him but who must do so of his own free will without being told to do so. In light of this speech, can Brunhilde’s later actions in connection with the combat of Siegmund and Hunding and her defiance of Wotan’s commands be justified? Please explain fully.
La Boheme:
How is the Mimi of the opera La Boheme different from the Mimi of the book on which the opera is based?
How is the Musette of the opera similar to the Musette of the book?
Study Guide for Wagner, Die Walküre
Here are some on-line resources you can use to answer the questions below:
The wikipedia article Die Walkure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walk%C3%BCre
(Links to an external site.)
)
The libretto to Die Walkure in English translation at http://www.murashev.com/opera/Die_Walk%C3%BCre_libretto_English_German
(Links to an external site.)
The video of Acts I and II of Die Walkure with English subtitles on the My Media tab to the left
Die Walküre is the second opera of The Ring of the Nibelung, a cycle of four music dramas (the term Wagner perfered for his operas). The Ring Cycle is based very loosely on a literary work called the Nibelungen Lied and on Norse legends. Be able to summarize the story of all four operas of the Ring Cycle briefly.
Wotan’s long speech to Brunhilde in Act II scene 2 of Die Walkure as found here: http://www.murashev.com/opera/Die_Walk%C3%BCre_libretto_English_German
(Links to an external site.)
is the clearest presentation in the Ring Cycle of the basic story that animates the entire tetralogy. Read this speech, listen to the video
La Boheme is taken from Henri Murger’s Bohemians of the Latin Quarter, an episodic novel drawn from stories published in a literary magazine. The stories concern a group of young artists named Rodolphe, Colline, Schaunard, and Marcel and their various friends and acquaintances. The stories are almost all light hearted and portray a youth-oriented and morally licentious culture of artists in Paris in the mid 19th century
An english translation of the novel can be found here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18445/18445-h/18445-h.htm (Links to an external site.)
There are a total of 23 chapters plus a preface. Read the following chapters and describe what if anything from them found its way into the opera (be specific about scene and act of the opera and discuss what is different in the opera as compared with the same subject matter in the book):
Chapter VI Mademoiselle Musette
Chapter XI A Bomemian Cafe
Chapter XVI The Passage of the Red Sea
Chapter XVIII Francine’s Muff
Sample Solution
