Delos Diary

Seattle Opera is reviving its renowned Wagner Ring Cycle during the 2005 season. Many singers in the casts announced are repeaters, including Jane Eaglen as Brunnhilde. In a recent interview she called it her "favorite role."
Among the newcomers who are undertaking important parts for the first time in Seattle we noticed our own Ewa Podles', who will sing Erda and the First Norn. The Podles' voice, incomparably rich and dark, should make quite an impression as Erda. She appears in Das Rheingold and Siegfried as the mysterious earth goddess of wisdom, and in Götterdämmerung as First Norn. Although the parts are not exceptionally long, at least by Wagnerian standards, they are important and integral to the progress of the dramas. Particularly so is the character of Erda, who after all gave birth to all nine of the Valkyries in a past liaison with Wotan. With such an experience behind her no wonder the elusive earth goddess prefers the solitude of her subterranean lair to the glories of Valhalla.