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Classical 101

Classic Bayreuth Festival Production Shows Valkyries' Dirty Work

The Valkyries would seem to have it all. In most productions of recent years the legendary warrior sisters of Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs cycle seem to get all the glory: the best music (they don't call it "The Ride of the Valkyries" for nothing), a favored place in their father's heart (even as Wotan sinks ever more deeply into the mother of all mid-life crises) and secure (well, secure for everyone but poor, silly Brünhilde) jobs in the family business. Yes, the Valkyries would seem to have all the glamor. Then again, things aren't always what they seem. A 1976 Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner's Ring stresses no the Valkyries' girl-warrior status, but rather the dark side of the their jobs as collectors of fallen soldiers. Dark indeed. One might even say grizzly. But check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKAH_t0aXA

Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.