LEWISBURG – Audiences will have an opportunity to enjoy the epic climax of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle as Greenbrier Valley Theatre's presentation of the The Met: Live in HD series continues on Feb. 11 with Götterdämmerung ("The Twilight of the Gods").
This is the fourth and final installment in The Met's elaborate production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring). The first two installments, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, were part of the Met's 2010-2011 season and the third installment, Siegfried, was presented in November.
In Götterdämmerung, Brünnhilde plunges the entire world into a cataclysm of total destruction after her love for Siegfried is betrayed.
American soprano Deborah Voigt will take on the role of Brünnhilde, one of the most demanding roles in all of opera. Jay Hunter Morris, who was lauded for his turn in the title role in Siegfried, returns as opera's ultimate hero.
Götterdämmerung, like the other three chapters in the Ring cycle, features Robert Lepage's innovative, high-tech staging which utilizes video projections and a set of 24 planks known as "the machine" to bring to life Wagner's vision.
The New York Times hailed Götterdämmerung, which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on Jan. 27, as "The most theatrically effective staging of the four works in this epic series, and the clearest representation of the director Robert Lepage's vision.
"(Conductor) Fabio Luisi drew an uncommonly articulate and nuanced account of this daunting opera."
This is Greenbrier Valley Theatre's eighth installment of The Met: Live in HD, an award-winning series, which affords audiences the opportunity to experience different productions live from the famed Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
The performance will begin at 12 p.m., and audience members are invited to an 11 a.m. presentation by guest speaker Dr. James Caplinger.
Caplinger, an adjunct faculty member at Mountain State University, has appeared in roles in numerous places including the Greater Miami Opera, the Palm Beach Opera and the Boca Raton Symphonic Pops. Prior to MSU, he taught at Florida Atlantic University and Ohio University.
Lunch, catered by Stella's Restaurant in Lewisburg, will also be available for an additional charge during the guest speaker presentation.
Tickets are $12 each and can be purchased in person, by phone, at 304-645-3838, or online at www.gvtheatre.org. Those interested in lunch, are asked to notify GVT in advance.
GVT Annual Sponsors include Ralph and Debbie Ballard, the Ballard Family Foundation, Pat C. Fragile, Allen and Paula Carson, Roger and LewAnne Cerasoli, Mary Laub Cowan, Paul and Ann Moran and Rick and Jeanne Whiting.
Greenbrier Valley Theatre, The State Professional Theatre of West Virginia, is located at 113 E. Washington St. in Lewisburg.
