A Siegfried Fun Fact, courtesy of Virginia Opera:
Richard Wagner had a thing with the name Siegfried:
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1848 – Wagner first wrote the libretto for a single opera, Siegfrieds Tod (Siegfried's Death)
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1869 – Wagner’s son was born and named Siegfried
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1870 – To celebrate the birth of his son, Wagner composed the Siegfried Idyll, a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra
Virginia Opera (VAO) opens its 2023/2024 season with a continuation of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle, presenting the third installment, Siegfried, on October 7 and 8. Following the story of Siegfried’s journey into adulthood, audiences are invited to reenter a world of fantasy and adventure.
Beginning as the orphan grandson of Wotan, the king of the gods, Siegfried was raised by a dwarf named Mime. Emerging as a hero, Siegfried re-forges his father’s shattered sword and sets off to reclaim the lost ring from Das Rheingold before embarking on a quest for the greatest prize of all—love.
Floridian tenor Cooper Nolan whose “powerhouse voice” (Opera News) is gaining him attention as an important interpreter of some of opera's most demanding tenor roles, makes his debut with Virginia Opera in the title role of Siegfried. Watch the video below for a special look at Nolan and the cast of Virginia Opera's Siegfried.
Both nationally and internationally traveled, Nolan has a rich history portraying iconic roles from both comedy and tragedy as well as premiere productions of contemporary works. To name a few, Nolan has made his role debut in Aida (Radames) with Finger Lakes Opera, performed as tenor Soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Defiant Requiem Foundation, portrayed Rodolfo in a semi-staged La bohème with the Savannah Philharmonic, and made his Carnegie Hall debut in Elgar’s The Kingdom with the American Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera, and is a two-time Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Winner, and has been praised in Musical America for his “bright, shining, tenor.”
If Rodolfo from La bohème sounds familiar, you may remember Virginia Opera’s 2021 production, La Bohème: Rodolfo Remembers! You can read about that adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s classic opera on the Center for the Arts’ website.
On September 19, Virginia Opera resident scholar Joshua Borths hopped online to give audiences a deeper look at Siegfried in Virginia Opera’s latest installment of “Let's Talk Opera,” but if you need a quicker recap of Siegfried, look no further than the video below.