Götterdämmerung

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Work data
Title: Götterdämmerung
Shape: Composed by the act
Original language: German
Music: Richard Wagner
Libretto : Richard Wagner
Premiere: 17th August 1876
Place of premiere: Bayreuth Festival Hall
Playing time: about 4 1 / 4 hours.
  • 1st act: approx. 1:55 hours
  • 2nd act: approx. 1:05 hours
  • 3rd act: approx. 1:15 hours
Place and time of the action: Valkyrie rock, Gunthers Hofhalle on the Rhine, wooded area on the Rhine, mythical prehistory
people

The Norns:

  • First Norn ( Alt )
  • Second norn (mezzo-soprano)
  • Third norn (soprano)

The Rhine daughters:

  • Woglinde (soprano)
  • Wellgunde (mezzo-soprano)
  • Floßhilde (old)

Götterdämmerung ( WWV : 86D) is the title of the fourth part of Richard Wagner's tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung , which he described as a “stage festival for three days and an evening before”. The “pre-evening” is the non-stop work Das Rheingold , the other two “days” are Die Walküre and Siegfried . The first performance took place on August 17, 1876 as part of the Richard Wagner Festival in the Bayreuth Festival Hall. The title and parts of the plot take up the Nordic saga Ragnarök .

action

foreplay

Night - the three Norns camp on the Valkyries rock . The first, oldest norn ties the rope of fate to a fir tree and recalls times that preceded the plot of the tetralogy. Once she braided the rope on the world ash , under which a spring rose. But “a bold god came to drink at the source; One of his eyes he pays as an eternal toll. ”(Cf. however Das Rheingold , 2nd scene, Wotan zu Fricka :“ In order to win you as a woman, I put my one eye on it in an advertising ”). Wotan then broke a branch from the ash tree from which he made his spear. The ash fell ill from the wound made by the broken branch and withered. The second norn receives the rope and tells of Wotan's fate as it happened during the plot of the tetralogy so far. She throws the rope to the third, youngest norn. She knows "how it will be". She sees the end of the gods in the burning Valhalla . But the visions of the Norns are confused: “Out of need and envy, the Niblungen's ring protrudes: a vengeance gnaws my threads.” The rope breaks: “To the end, eternal knowledge! Wise men no longer report anything to the world. ”The Norns disappear.

Bright day - Brünnhilde and Siegfried step out of the stone chamber and enthusiastically sing about their love. But Siegfried is drawn to “new deeds”. He gives Brünnhilde the ring he had stolen from Fafner as a pledge of his love to say goodbye. She leaves him the horse Grane.

First elevator

The hall of the Gibichungen on the Rhine. Gunther and his sister Gutrune, the pure-blooded Gibichungen, sit there with their half-brother Hagen . Alberich had fathered this with Grimhild, Gibichungen's mother (cf. Die Walküre , Act II, Wotan zu Brünnhilde: “I recently heard the myth from the Niblung that a woman overcomes the dwarf, forcing gold in her favor: the fruit of hate a woman cherishes the power of envy in her lap [...] ”). The siblings recognized the devious Hagen enviously as an advisor. He cunningly tells them that they have not yet been married and comes up with a clever plan: For Gunther he knows a “woman”, “the most wonderful in the world” - Brünnhilde - who, however, only Siegfried can get from the fire-torched mountain. But this will fulfill Gunther's request in order to win Gutrune as wife. Gutrune does not like to believe that the "most glorious hero in the world" could desire her. But Hagen is reminiscent of a drink: if Siegfried would enjoy, he would forget “that a woman ever approaches him”. The siblings enthusiastically agree to this plan, without considering which woman Siegfried is forgetting. In truth, of course, Hagen is only interested in the ring.

On his journey through the Rhine, Siegfried moored at the Gibichungenhalle. Gutrune hands him the welcome drink prepared by Hagen. No sooner has he emptied this "in one long train" than he has forgotten Brünnhilde. He burns with a wild passion for Gutrune and is immediately ready to fetch the desired bride for Gunther - Brünnhilde - if he wins "Gutrun zum Frau" as a result. He closes blood brotherhood with Gunther and urges: "Fresh on the trip!", Because, as he explains to his blood brother: "I love the return!" Gunther and Siegfried board the ship. Hagen stays behind and guards the hall. In self-talk he scoffs at them: “You free sons, happy fellows, just sail along for fun! If he thinks of you low, you serve him, the son of the Niblungen. "

Alberich and Hagen: a picture by Arthur Rackham

The third scene takes place again on the Valkyries rock. Brünnhilde is sitting in front of the stone chamber, “looking at Siegfried's ring.” Then she hears “Old-time noise”. Waltraute, one of the Valkyries , seeks them out. She reports that after he returned home with “splinters of his spear”, Wotan gave the order to “Valhall's noble [n]” to “fell the world ash. He ordered the logs of the tribe to be stacked [...] around the Blessed Hall. "There he sat in silence among the heroes and waited for the return of his two ravens," they once returned with good news, then once again [...] smiled forever the god. “Recently, Waltraute, she overheard a murmuring self-talk of the god: The world would be redeemed if Brünnhilde gave her ring back to the Rhine daughters. Then she secretly left Valhalla and flew to the Valkyries rock. She urgently implores Brünnhilde to part with the ring, but she indignantly rejects it: The ring is Siegfried's pledge of love. She never wants to let go of him, "Walhall's radiant splendor falls even in ruins!" "Swing away!" She calls after the departing Waltraute.

It has become evening, the firelight suddenly flares up brighter. Brünnhilde thinks Siegfried is returning. But she sees a stranger: it is Siegfried, transformed into Gunther's shape by means of the camouflage helmet. With a disguised voice, he asks her to willingly follow him because he wants to woo her "now to be a woman". Horrified, she stretches her finger with the ring threateningly towards him: "You don't force me to shame as long as the ring protects me." But the protection fails, the supposed stranger invades her, snatches the ring from her and "drives her." with a commanding gesture ”into the rock room. Out of loyalty to his blood brother Gunther, he places his sword Notung between himself and Brünnhilde during the night .

second elevator

In front of the Gibichungenhalle - night - Hagen is sleeping, leaning against a column, Alberich is crouching in front of him. He urgently swears his son to their mutual desire: Fafner is dead, Wotan is no longer to be feared, Siegfried has no idea of ​​the power of the ring he has. Now you are close to your goal. Drunk with sleep, Hagen replies: “I should have the ring [...] I swear to myself; Silence worry! ”At dawn Alberich disappears. Siegfried suddenly stands next to Hagen. The Tarnhelm moved him from the Valkyries rock to the Rhine in one breath. He reports on the success of the trip and asks Hagen and Gutrune: “So now prepare the reception!” Gutrune's worries about how he had spent the night next to Brünnhilde's camp are dispelled: (pointing to his sword) “Between east and west the north : so close '- Brünnhild was' far from him. ”Hagen now calls the Gibichsmannen together. He reports on Gunther's upcoming wedding and orders animal sacrifices to be slaughtered for the gods, the drinking horns to be filled and vigorous drinking: “All in honor of the gods, that they have a good marriage!” The boat with Gunther and Brünnhilde arrives. He solemnly strides ashore with her, "who follows him pale and with a bowed look". Only when Gunther announces the other bride and groom: Gutrune and Siegfried does she look up in shock: “Siegfried - doesn't know me?” She can't believe it. Especially not when she discovers the ring that Gunther supposedly snatched from her on Siegfried's hand. She cries out terribly at the fraud and betrayal. Pointing to Siegfried, she rages: "I am married to the man there." Siegfried rejects this and refers to his sword: "His sharpness separated me from this sad woman." Brünnhilde, on the other hand, refers to her first meeting with Siegfried - of which he no longer knows anything about the drink - and accuses him of lying: Notung's sharpness is known to her, but she knows "also the vagina, in which Notung rests so blissfully on the wall, the loyal friend". The bystanders are at a loss, they urge Siegfried: “Keep the complaint silent! Swear the oath! ”At the point of Hagen's spear, he swears to have spoken true, Brünnhilde swears that Siegfried has now sworn perjury. Siegfried dismisses this as a "Weibergekeif". He said to Gunther: "Women's resentment will soon be pacified: the woman will certainly thank you for winning it." With Gutrune, the men and women, he moves into the hall for the wedding feast. Only Gunther, Brünnhilde and Hagen stay behind. Hagen offers himself to the stunned as an avenger. She rejects this as hopeless. Siegfried is invulnerable because of her magic blessing. But "he never gives his back to [the enemy] when he is fleeing: I save the blessing on him." "And there my spear hits him!" Replies Hagen. Gunther still hesitates because of his sister: “Do we punish the husband like that, how would we stand before her?” But Hagen knows what to do: “If his death must sadden her, the deed is hidden from her. Tomorrow we will go on a lively hunt: the noble one roars ahead: a boar killed him there. ”Siegfried's death has been decided.

third elevator

Stage design by the theater painter Max Brückner from 1894, showing the burning Valhalla.

Wild forest and rock valley on the Rhine - Here Siegfried, who got lost on the hunt, meets the Rhine daughters who dive into the sunlight. They ask him for his ring. Since he refuses the gift, they warn him about the curse on the ring. They predict that he will fall victim to this, just as Fafner once did and still does today. But Siegfried believes he knows "Weiberart": "Whoever does not trust their flattery, they scare them with threats;" While the Rhine daughters disappear to visit Brünnhilde, the hunting party arrives. Skilfully lured by Hagen, Siegfried tells the sadly depressed Gunther “Mären aus [s] a young days.” Siegfried has already described how the forest bird had warned him about Mime, when Hagen fills a drinking horn and drips “the juice of a herb” into it which cancels the effect of the forgetting potion (Act I). Siegfried reports ecstatically how he “walked through the fire” and lay with a kiss in “the beautiful Brünnhilde arm”. “What do I hear!” Shouts Gunther “jumping up in great horror”. He now understands the whole truth. Two ravens (see Waltrauten scene above) fly up. Hagen, alluding to Siegfried's ability to understand birds, sneers: “Can you guess this raven noise too? They advised me to revenge! ”And“ thrust his spear into Siegfried's back ”. The dying sees in a vision how he awakens Brünnhilde one last time.

During the funeral music that follows, the stage is transformed back into the Gibichung Hall. Gutrune, tormented by nightmares, wanders through the night. She thinks she saw Brünnhilde walking to the bank of the Rhine. The dead Siegfried is brought. Hagen defiantly brags about the murder because the dead man "spoke perjury". He asserts “holy booty right” and demands the ring. Gunther stands in his way, but Hagen kills him and “takes Siegfried's hand; this rises menacingly ”. Everything shrinks back. Brünnhilde now appears and orders a pyre to be built on the edge of the Rhine, in whose flames Siegfried, herself and Grane are to be burned. Once again she praises the dead. She thanks the Rhine daughters whom she visited on the bank with “honest advice”. She knows everything now. She pulls the ring from Siegfried's finger. From their ashes the Rhine daughters are supposed to take those who have been cleansed of the curse by the fire. Then she throws a torch into the pile of wood, mounts Grane “and with one sentence blows it into the burning pyre”. When the fire is at its highest, the Rhine overflows its banks, the fire goes out, the Rhine daughters swim up to it. When Hagen sees this, he rushes into the flood with the cry: "Back from the ring!" But the Rhine daughters pull him down. The burning Valhalla can be seen in a bright glow of fire in the sky. "When the gods are completely covered by the flames, the curtain falls."

(The literal quotations are taken from the piano reduction by Otto Singer, Leipzig, Breitkopf and Härtel, n.d.)

layout

Instrumentation

Performance history

premiere

A memorial plaque in the foyer of the Bayreuth Festival Hall commemorates those who participated in the premiere . They were:

  • Orchestra direction: Hans Richter
  • Stage direction: Karl Brandt
  • Decorations: Josef Hoffmann
  • Costumes: Emil Döpler
  • Choreography: Richard Fricke

Duration (using the example of the Bayreuth Festival)

At the Bayreuth Festival it was customary to document the length of the individual elevators, but not all years were recorded there and sometimes not all files were recorded. The information given here only includes the years and the conductors for which all three acts were documented. Even with the same conductor, the length of the acts differed from year to year and performance to performance. The type of voice and the temperament of the singers also influenced the duration.

Overview (1876 to 1970)
Götterdämmerung 1st act 2nd act 3rd act Total duration
Hours. conductor Hours. conductor Hours. conductor Hours. conductor
Shortest duration 1:47 Otmar Suitner 0:55 Horst Stein 1:09 Karl Bohm 3:58 Horst Stein
Longest duration 2:11 Franz Beidler 1:10 Hans Knappertsbusch 1:23 Hans Knappertsbusch 4:40 Hans Knappertsbusch
Span * 0:24 (22%) 0:15 (27%) 0:14 (20%) 0:42 (18%)

* Percentages based on the shortest duration

Playing time with individual conductors of the Bayreuth Festival (in hours)
year conductor 1st act 2nd act 3rd act Total duration
1876 Hans Richter 1:57 1:04 1:18 4:19
1896 Felix Mottl 1:56 1:02 1:16 4:14
1896 Siegfried Wagner 1:57 1:05 1:13 4:05
1904 Franz Beidler 2:11 1:06 1:21 4:38
1909 Michael Balling 1:58 1:07 1:19 4:24
1927 Franz von Hoeßlin 1:52 1:03 1:14 4:09
1930 Karl Elmendorff 1:56 1:02 1:15 4:13
1934 Heinz Tietjen 2:04 0:59 1:15 4:18
1936 Wilhelm Furtwängler 1:53 1:03 1:18 4:14
1951 Herbert von Karajan 1:58 1:05 1:15 4:18
1951 Hans Knappertsbusch 2:07 1:10 1:23 4:40
1952 Joseph Keilberth 1:52 1:04 1:16 4:12
1953 Clemens Krauss 1:54 1:06 1:16 4:16
1960 Rudolf Kempe 1:56 1:05 1:17 4:18
1964 Berislav Klobučar 1:57 1:05 1:16 4:18
1965 Karl Bohm 1:50 1:00 1:09 3:59
1966 Otmar Suitner 1:47 1:02 1:10 3:59
1968 Lorin Maazel 1:50 0:59 1:15 4:04
1970 Horst Stein 1:48 1:01 1:12 4:01
1970 Horst Stein 1:50 0:55 1:13 3:58

Others

On November 21, 1874, Wagner completed the Götterdämmerung score. Under the last page he wrote: “Completed in Wahnfried, I won't say anything more! RW ”26 years and three months after he started the work. Originally the title was: Siegfrieds Tod.

Individual parts of the work belong to the repertoire of orchestral concerts:

  • The orchestral interlude in front of Act I as Siegfried's Rhine trip.
  • The funeral music of the III. Elevator as a funeral march or Siegfried's funeral march.
  • The men's choir from Act II.
  • Brünnhilde's final song (thick logs are stacked there for me)
  • and occasionally: Hagens Here I sit on watch (Act I).

With the title of his late work, Götzendämmerung, Friedrich Nietzsche alludes parodically to Götterdämmerung .

Recordings (selection)

Web links

Commons : Götterdämmerung  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Egon Voss: The conductors of the Bayreuth Festival, 1976, Gustav Bosse Verlag, Regensburg; P. 99.
  2. ↑ So justified in Egon Voss (ibid.)
  3. ^ Martin Gregor-Dellin , Richard Wagner, Munich, 1980, ISBN 3-492-02527-7 , p. 683.
  4. ↑ Pizzicato: Barenboims 'Götterdämmerung': Even more weaknesses , review by Remy Franck, accessed on November 12, 2016.
  5. ↑ Mezzo TV : Simon Rattle conducts Wagner's Götterdämmerung at the Aix-en-Provence festival ( memento of November 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) , accessed on November 12, 2016.
  6. ^ Opera today: Götterdämmerung at Aix-en-Provence - A Human Symphony , accessed on November 12, 2016.