It's All Music, Man

LONDON (Reuters) - The sound of Richard Wagner's monumental music thundered over Britain's Glastonbury Festival Sunday, an event best known for its rock bands and techno dance acts.

The German composer's "Ride of the Valkyries," performed by the English National Opera, was the first opera to be staged at Europe's biggest open-air event.

The ENO performed act three of the Valkyries on the main stage, complete with a 90-piece orchestra and 11 soloists, in a bid to bring opera to a wider audience.

"It was quite moving to hear opera in such a vast outdoor space," one enthusiastic reveller among more than 100,000 festival-goers told BBC Television.

The music is the most famous portion of the composer's 15-hour long Ring cycle and has been featured in countless commercials and films, most famously in Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."