Last night, we heard the National Symphony Orchestra give its first program of 2006, the second in the usual series of three concerts. This concert featured guest conductor James Conlon and three opera singers in the marquee work that really filled the hall, a concert performance of the first act of Richard Wagner’s opera Die Walküre.

As we mentioned in last week’s Classical Music Agenda, Washington is getting ready for a much-anticipated encounter with Wagner’s great saga of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The Washington National Opera will inaugurate a new production of Wagner’s magnum opus this March, beginning with the first opera, Das Rheingold, and continuing with one of the operas each year for the next four seasons. It is billing this new production, mounted in collaboration with San Francisco Opera and directed by Francesca Zambello, as an “American Ring cycle,” with imagery and costume ideas drawn from American history, including Native American mythology.

WNO’s last encounter with Die Walküre, in November 2003, featured the Washington debut of a beautiful, young German soprano named Anja Kampe as Sieglinde. As you can see in the image shown here, Ms. Kampe shatters the expectations you might have about opera singers, and as she proved again last night the real reason to pay for her concert is to hear her sing. That she is easy on the eyes is a pleasant bonus. The Wagner portion of the program was a beautiful and moving experience, with singing ranging from good to excellent. The players of the NSO, at their full strength and then some to meet the orchestrational demands of Wagner’s scores, exceeded all expectations, too, considering that this is not their usual repertoire. We must credit at least part of their success to the energetic and assured conducting of James Conlon.