Opera Santa Barbara closes its 2022-2023 season with “The Valkyrie” (“Die Walküre”) on April 23, 2023, at the Lobero Theater. The opera from Wagner’s epic Saga, “The Ring of the Nibelung,” will be presented in an abridged version created by composer Jonathan Dove and stage director Graham Vick.

The opera will be sung in German with a translation projected on stage, and the performance will last 2 hours and 30 minutes. It is a work described by critics as “revealing and imaginatively fresh,” which has given way to smaller companies, with work admired by new audiences but still satisfying Wagner fans.

The cast includes sopranos Alexandra Loutsion, Julie Davies, and Sunwoo Park; mezzo-sopranos Christina Pezzarossi, Georgia Jacobson, and Yoshida Nelsen; tenor Robert Stahley; bass-baritone Wayne Tigges; and bass Colin Ramsey.

Opera Santa Barbara Artistic and General Director, Kostis Protopapas, said in an official press statement, “I’m thrilled for the opportunity to lead the Opera Santa Barbara Orchestra in this epic score. It’s two hours of Wagner’s richest and most accessible music, and we have a dream cast.  Whether you’re a lifelong Wagner fan, or this is your first Wagner opera, you will be moved by the story and transported by the music.”