Showing posts with label Tina Fey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tina Fey. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Is "30 Rock's" Liz Lemon the Ninth Valkyrie Sister?

Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock and is played by Tina Fey. The character's ringtone on her cell phone was The Ride of the Valkyries in several episodes. No word on whether Liz Lemon was going for the Bugs Bunny aspect or perhaps it was simply the influence of fellow actor (and opera lover) Alec Baldwin that made the decision for the ringtone.

"The Ride of the Valkyries (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen. The main theme of the Ride, the leitmotif labelled Walkürenritt, was first written down by the composer on 23 July 1851. The preliminary draft for the Ride was composed in 1854 as part of the composition of the entire opera, which was fully orchestrated by the end of the first quarter of 1856. Together with the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, the Ride of the Valkyries is one of Wagner's best-known pieces. In the opera house, the Ride, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude to the Act, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of Brünnhilde have