Siegfried (opera)

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Work data
Title: Siegfried
Jean de Reszke as Siegfried, around 1896

Jean de Reszke as Siegfried, around 1896

Shape: thoroughly composed
Original language: German
Music: Richard Wagner
Libretto : Richard Wagner
Premiere: August 16, 1876
Place of premiere: Bayreuth Festival Hall
Playing time: just under 4 hours
  • 1st act: approx. 1:20 hours
  • 2nd act: approx. 1:15 hours
  • 3rd act: approx. 1:20 hours
Place and time of the action: Mimes rock cave in the forest; Forest in front of Fafner's cave; wild area at the foot of a rocky mountain and the summit of the "Brünnhildenstein"; mythical prehistoric times
people

Siegfried ( WWV 86 C) is the title of an opera by Richard Wagner which, together with the three operas Das Rheingold , Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung, forms the complete work (or the tetralogy ) The Ring of the Nibelung , a “stage festival for three days and one Eve". Siegfried is performed on the penultimate day. The premiere took place on August 16, 1876 in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus under the direction of Hans Richter . The first Siegfried was Ferdinand Jäger . The work has been published by Verlag Schott , Mainz (Richard Wagner Complete Edition). The autograph of the score has been lost since the Second World War .

action

First elevator

Siegfried , Sieglinde's and Siegmund's son, was raised in the forest by the blacksmith Mime , Alberich's brother. Mime hopes the boy will steal the ring from the Rhine gold that Fafner , who has transformed into a lindworm , is guarding. However, no sword can withstand Siegfried's strength. Mime still owns the wreckage from Nothung , but doesn't know how to turn it back into a sword. In Siegfried's absence he receives a visit from Wotan in the form of the Wanderer. Mime wants to turn away the unwelcome guest, but with the knowledge bet he pledges his head for the stove. Mime makes things too easy for the hiker: he asks about the sexes who live in “the depths of the earth” (the Nibelungs in Nibelheim), on “the back of the earth” (the giants in Riesenheim) and “on cloudy heights” (the gods on Valhalla). The Niblung is also able to answer two of the three questions asked by the wanderer, namely the question about Wotan's "desired sex" (the Wälsungen, with Siegfried as their strongest offspring), as well as the question about the name of the sword that Siegfried has to wield in order to get Fafner kill (Nothung). Mime, however, has no advice on the third question from the wanderer ("Who will weld Nothung, the sword, from the strong pieces?"). The Niblung now learns the answer from the hiker: “Only those who never experienced fear, forge Nothung again!” Before the hiker leaves Mime's cave, the latter has to find out that he will lose his bet head not to the hiker but to someone else (“Your wise head is true today; I will let it fall to him who has not learned to fear!”).

Since the frightened mime has to confess to Siegfried, who has meanwhile returned from the forest and who has become impatient, that he is unable to forge the pieces of the sword for him, Siegfried now files up the rubble, melts it down and forges himself the sword from it again. Mime, who realizes that Siegfried succeeds in forging the sword again and is therefore the fearless hero announced by the Wanderer, now devises a plan to put his pupil to sleep after defeating Fafner with the help of a narcotic potion and then to kill his own Save your head and usurp the ring. While the Niblung dreams of rule over Alberich, Nibelheim and the world, Siegfried Nothung has finished forging and is the first to break his foster father's anvil in two.

second elevator

Alberich keeps watch in front of Fafner's cave, the "envy cave", longing for the day when the curse he has imposed on the ring will come true on Fafner. During his watch suddenly “a bright glow” appears in the sky, which shines “like a riding horse” and is heading for the cave of envy. However, it is not approaching "the worm's strangler", but Alberich's old adversary Wotan. The Niblung breaks out in anger against his conqueror and accuses Wotan of wanting to steal the ring again. He tries to appease the angry Niblung: Wotan declares that he is not going to use the ring; Alberich did not threaten either from Siegfried's sword Nothung or from Wotan's spear, but rather from the deceit of his own brother Mime. In order to convince the Niblung of his lack of intention, Wotan wakes the sleeping Fafner so that Alberich can warn him and persuade him to hand over the ring. The dragon ignores Wotan's and Alberich's warnings and continues to sleep. While Wotan leaves the site, Alberich stays behind to await the progress of events.

Mime and Siegfried appear. Mime withdraws out of fear of Fafner, while Siegfried enjoys the atmosphere of the forest and the chirping of birds. With the intention of imitating the twittering of birds, Siegfried carves a flute out of a pipe and blows on it. Recognizing the failure of this project, Siegfried picks up the horn that Mime forged for him and wakes up Fafner, who rises from his cave, with his flattering. The two dissimilar opponents provoke a fight to the death with boastful words. Siegfried fights with Fafner and at a favorable moment stabs him in the heart. Sensing that the boy has carried out someone else's plan and forgiving as he dies, Fafner warns his conqueror of Mime's cunning. Fafner's blood gets on Siegfried's tongue and suddenly he understands the birds singing. The forest bird advises him to take the ring and the camouflage helmet from the treasure. To Mimes and Alberich's horror, Siegfried follows this advice. By tasting the dragon's blood, he is able to see through Mime's true intentions and learns that he only wants to use him and then kill him. Disgusted by Mime's falsehood, Siegfried slays him; Alberich's scornful laughter can be heard in the background. Advised by the forest bird for the third time, he sets off to the sleeping Brünnhilde under the guidance of the forest bird flying ahead .

third elevator

Wotan awakens the earth goddess Erda , mother of their daughter Brünnhilde. He hopes to get advice from her on “how to restrain a rolling wheel”. He no longer knows how to proceed. Erda can't advise him either. The downfall, the twilight of the gods , seems inevitable.

Wotan meets Siegfried, his grandson, in front of the Brünnhildenfelsen. Siegfried proves to be fearless and disrespectful and smashes Wotan's spear. The god withdraws resignedly to Valhalla .

Siegfried walks through the ring of fire around the rock, discovers the sleeping Brünnhilde and wakes her with a kiss. This solemnly welcomes the day. After initially shying away from Siegfried's glow of love and complaining about the shame that she is no longer a Valkyrie , she confesses her love for Siegfried. He who set out to learn to fear is now afraid of the greatness of this love. But both overcome their fear. They cheerfully celebrate their love, may gods and the world and they themselves perish.

layout

Instrumentation

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)
Siegfried 1st act 2nd act 3rd act Total duration
Hours. conductor Hours. conductor Hours. conductor Hours. conductor
Shortest duration 1:15 Lorin Maazel
Horst Stein 		1:07 Lorin Maazel 1:12 Otmar Suitner 3:36 Lorin Maazel
Longest duration 1:24 Hans Knappertsbusch
Berislav Klobučar 		1:17 Hans Richter 1:25 Hans Knappertsbusch 4:05 Hans Knappertsbusch
Span * 0:09 (12%) 0:10 (15%) 0:13 (18%) 0:29 (13%)

* 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 1:23 1:17 1:20 4:00
1896 Felix Mottl 1:21 1:14 1:21 3:56
1896 Siegfried Wagner 1:20 1:13 1:20 3:53
1897 Hans Richter 1:19 1:13 1:19 3:51
1904 Franz Beidler 1:21 1:16 1:21 3:58
1909 Michael Balling 1:19 1:15 1:20 3:54
1927 Franz von Hoeßlin 1:18 1:12 1:19 3:49
1930 Karl Elmendorff 1:18 1:12 1:24 3:44
1934 Heinz Tietjen 1:18 1:13 1:20 3:41
1936 Wilhelm Furtwängler 1:23 1:12 1:23 3:58
1938 Heinz Tietjen 1:17 1:10 1:15 3:42
1951 Herbert von Karajan 1:20 1:11 1:22 3:53
1951 Hans Knappertsbusch 1:24 1:16 1:25 4:05
1952 Joseph Keilberth 1:18 1:12 1:18 3:48
1953 Clemens Krauss 1:22 1:15 1:18 3:55
1960 Rudolf Kempe 1:22 1:15 1:17 3:54
1964 Berislav Klobučar 1:24 1:13 1:20 3:57
1965 Karl Bohm 1:18 1:11 1:17 3:46
1966 Otmar Suitner 1:17 1:08 1:12 3:47
1968 Lorin Maazel 1:15 1:07 1:14 3:36
1970 Horst Stein 1:15 1:08 1:17 3:40

Recordings (selection)

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Barry Millington: The New Grove Guide to Wagner and his Operas. Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-531128-0 , p. 116.
  2. ^ Ludwig Eisenberg : Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century . Published by Paul List , Leipzig 1903, p. 468 f.
  3. ^ Egon Voss: The conductors of the Bayreuth Festival, 1976, Gustav Bosse Verlag, Regensburg; P. 98 f.
  4. ↑ So justified in Egon Voss (ibid.)