Treat for fans as Wagner work to be staged in Beijing

Conductor Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic will perform Wagner's Die Walkure in Beijing. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Die Walkure, or The Valkyrie, is a three-act music drama, the second of the four works which form Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung.

Based on characters from the Norse sagas and the German epic poem, The Song of the Nibelungs, the libretto and music were written by Wagner over the course of 26 years, from 1848 onward.

"When you look at history, it's like time travel. I believe in eternity and the cycle of life. I feel honored that I have the chance to bring back the production from 1967," says Van Zweden in Beijing.

Since his childhood, music has been an irresistible attraction for Van Zweden.

Born in Amsterdam to a music-loving family, he received his first violin lessons at the age of 5. He began his conducting career in 1995.

Appointed as the music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2012, he heads one of the largest and busiest music organizations in Hong Kong, presenting more than 150 concerts every year.

Under Van Zweden, the Hong Kong Philharmonic offers a variety of initiatives, including a four-year project to perform and record the complete Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung since 2014.

The performances recorded live for the world's leading classical music label－Naxos label－have won positive reviews internationally.