What a difference a day makes. After a somewhat dramatically inert Rheingold Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin returned to the Proms the following day with an all new cast of singers to deliver an exciting and intensely dramatic performance of Die Walküre.

It certainly helps when you have the A-list cast as assembled here and expectations were certainly high. Nina Stemme is singing her first Brünnhilde in London, while Bryn Terfel, Simon O'Neill and Anja Kampe are at the top of their game in their respective roles. With fewer singers on stage at any one time - in fact Walküre is mainly made up of "duets" - the semi staging was far more successful with better acting by the singers and more meaningful interactions between them. For sure, a staged performance would provide greater clarity and emotion in places, but this was nevertheless just about as good as you can get.

And once again at the heart of the performance was the transcendental playing of the Staatskapelle Berlin who could do no wrong, although a very public spat between Barenboim and the Concertmaster at the end of Act II went unexplained.

Simon O'Neill and Anja Kampe are seasoned performers as Siegmund and Sieglinde, both throwing themselves into their roles with unreserved abandon. O'Neill's voice seemed freer here, even though it still lacks the baritonal quality that gives the true Heldentenor ring. Nevertheless there was a visceral excitement to his performance and he brought Act I to an exciting close. Kampe is one of those singers who combines neurotic excitement with a gleaming soprano voice, producing a performance that was musically vibrant and dramatically exciting. Her bright tone combined nicely with Stemme's richer voice, and if the top notes were slightly strained it is a minor criticism.

The bad guy of the opera, Hunding, was sung by the American bass Eric Halfvason. He looked like a thug and sang like one.

Bryn Terfel is one the greatest of Wotans and it is easy to see why. It is his attention to the text that sets him apart from most other singers and he treats the long monologue in Act II as a lesson in Lieder singing. Every word counts. He even demonstrated that despite the unhelpful acoustics in the Royal Albert Hall it is possible to sing at a whisper and still be heard. And from there he was able to summon his full resources to give a heartfelt farewell to his daughter. The range was astonishing, the power was impressive and his performance was unforgettable.

Perhaps the surprise package of the evening was Ekaterina Gubanova's Fricka. Hers was no frumpy, downtrodden wife, but an elegant, regal lady who knew what she wanted. Combine this with her lustrous mezzo voice and you had a commanding performance that demanded attention.

Nina Stemme has had Brünnhilde in her repertoire for a few years now, but somewhat shamefully she has yet to sing the role at either Covent Garden or the Met. Put quite simply there is no other singer who can match her at the moment. Her Ho-jo-to-ho's were effortless and included the required trills; she displayed an impressive chest register for the Todesvekündikung scene and her invocations at the end of the opera before she is put to sleep had a gleaming intensity, full of emotion. The Proms are lucky that she will sing all three Brünnhildes - Götterdämmerung should not be missed.

Red lights surrounded the stage as Wotan commanded Loge to create the ring of fire around Brünnhilde. But all the magic was in the music.