The Viennese court opera singer Amalie Materna was the first Brünnhilde in Bayreuth and Vienna. The picture shows her in Bayreuth in 1876, with a shield and a spear
The Viennese premiere cast of Die Walküre lists all those involved in the new productions of Richard Wagner's Walküre , which since the Vienna premiere in March 1877 at the k. u. k Hofoper , today's State Opera, took place.
Die Walküre is the most frequently performed work of the Ring tetralogy in Vienna . The statistics recorded a total of 333 scenic and two concert performances by the end of 2016. Traditionally, Wagner's works are performed far more frequently in Vienna than in Berlin, Bayreuth, Paris, London or New York. This is due on the one hand to the interest of the Viennese public, on the other hand to the repertoire system of the State Opera, which makes it possible to keep all ten main works by the composer ready to play. The Ring des Nibelungen has been on the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera continuously since the late 1870s. Although the Vienna State Opera failed in 1862/63 when attempting the world premiere of Tristan und Isolde , all four works in the Ring quickly got their first performance in Vienna from 1877, long before the first performances in Berlin, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, New York or Milan .
Traditionally, there is considerable overlap between the Viennese and Bayreuth casts , as the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera had a number of singers who were essential for Richard Wagner's first performance of the Ring des Nibelungen . In the 20th and 21st centuries, the overlap can be explained by the fact that both the Bayreuth Festival and the Vienna State Opera endeavor to hire the best cast in the world. There is no direct competition as the Vienna State Opera is closed during the Bayreuth Festival season (in July and August).
The premiere cast
In the sixth column the number of performances of the respective production is given. For the first performance in 1877 and for the new production in 1907, neither a director nor a director is specified. The Bechtolf production is still on the program of the State Opera. The specified number of performances describes the status of January 2017.
