Soprano prepares for the ride of her life in Hong Kong debut

In the final scene of Wagner's epic opera Twilight of the Gods, the Valkyrie Brunnhilde rides her horse into a giant funeral pyre on the banks of the Rhine after her lover Siegfried is tricked into betraying her.

The opera, based on Norse mythology, is a fantastical tale of heroes and gods, a powerful magic ring, adventure, treachery, betrayal and death. As Brunnhilde burns to death, the flames grow larger, the river overflows its banks and the Viking heaven Valhalla is consumed by fire.

This scene is one of two that soprano Elizabeth Connell will perform when she makes her Hong Kong debut this week in a concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO). 'They call it the immolation scene, because at the end Brunnhilde burns the whole place down and herself,' says Connell.

The final scene of Twilight of the Gods, also known by its German name Gotterdammerung, is the last of four operas that comprise Wagner's epic Ring of the Nibelung, or the Ring Cycle. 'It brings all the strands of the four operas together,' says South African-born Connell.

The 19th-century German composer originally conceived the Ring as a set of interconnected operas to be performed over four nights. The Twilight of the Gods' final scene is one of the most difficult to stage because of the technical requirements, including the need for flames and water. Connell will sing only the last 20 minutes and stage decoration will be kept to a minimum, probably using lights instead of real flames.

She'll also perform an aria from another Wagner opera, Tannhauser, in which the heroine Elizabeth welcomes people to a meeting hall as she waits in vain for Tannhauser to return from a pilgrimage to Rome. To round out the all-Wagner programme, the orchestra will perform music from The Ride of the Valkyries and The Mastersingers of Nuremburg.