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Götterdämmerung (Der Ring des Nibelungen)

Richard Wagner

Third day, in a prologue and three acts

Teatro alla Scala Production
In coproduction with Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
In collaboration with Toneelhuis, Antwerp

22, 29 June

Running Time: 6 hours intermissions included

Sung in German with electronic libretto in Italian, English, German

Notes on the performancesOpen: The last title of the Ring, and the best-loved opera of the four along with the Valkyrie. It is well-loved because it is a drama of heartache– twin lovers, father and daughter – whilst the Götterdämmerungattracts people with the spirit of revenge that runs through it: heroes and men take the place of the gods, and the sentiments at stake are increasingly earthly. Wagner even allowed himself a barbarian choral scene, mention of which still risks triggering fainting fits amongst those that remember it. In the story, Siegfried involuntarily betrays Brünnhilde, who reveals the former’s weak spot to Hagen, upon which the latter kills Siegfried. It is the end of everything. Or rather, the start.

At a time of spreads, futures, derivatives, public debt and multinationals, the curse of gold (and that of the ring of power) seem somewhat up-to-date. As is the absence of love.

Barenboim arrived at the end of the undertaking, and is preparing himself for the complete cycle in June. And director Guy Cassiers will be concluding his marriage of recent image technology and Pagan Germanic antiquity.