In the legendary Boulezovsky Ring, this opera is a weak link. And the problem is that the least successful was the most popular part of the cycle “Ring of Nibelunga”. I think that the lion’s share of criticism of Boulez for this work is connected with this fact: since most Wagnerians love it the most “Valkyrie”, on it and evaluate the quality of the performance of the entire “Ring of Nibelung”.
The composition of the opera Valkyrie is based on building relationships in two pairs of Sigmund-Sieglind and Wotan-Brunhild. If the second pair is all right, they are performed by the strongest singers of their time, then the first pair is full of seams. It feels like Peter Hoffman Boulez was invited to Bayreuth just for his looks, and he sings so much that you look forward to seeing Sigmund finally killed. Giannine Altmaier as Ziglinda is acceptable, but nothing more.
As for the production, there are both successful solutions and doubtful ones. Undoubtedly a strong way is the pendulum that stops the moment Fricka explains to Wotan why his cunning plan with Sigmund won't work. In general, the decision of the second act in the form of a gloomy room in which the gods decide the fate of the world is wonderful. Good and cliff Valkyrie, resembling the island of the dead. But rolling corpses to "Flight of the Valkyries" is too much. Costumes dating back to Wagner’s lifetime were a revolutionary decision for their time, but modernizing operas has long been a commonplace.
In general, this production can be called the least successful fragment of a generally strong work.