Alberich

Alberich (Wagner: Das Rheingold; Siegfried; and Götterdämmerung). Bass-Baritone. A Nibelung dwarf, brother of Mime and father of Hagen. This is the character that sets the whole four-part Ring-drama in motion - he steals the gold from the Rhinemaidens and makes from it a Ring which will give him the power to rule the world.

Das Rheingold: Alberich lustfully chases the Rhinemaidens at the bottom of the river. He sees the gold which they guard and they tell him that whoever makes a Ring from the gold will rule the world, but that to achieve this he must forswear love. Alberich curses love and grabs the hoard. He takes it to his brother Mime, an able goldsmith, who makes from it a magic helmet (Tarnhelm) and a Ring, which Alberich puts on his finger. The helmet bestows on the wearer the ability to turn into any form he desires, big or small. Alberich dons it and makes himself invisible, beating-up Mime who cannot see him. When Wotan and Loge visit him, Alberich proves to them how powerful he now is by turning himself into a serpent. He accepts their challenge to make himself into a very small animal, murmurs the spell and emerges as a toad. The gods capture him, tie him up, and take him away with them. Back on their mountain, they force Alberich to hand over the hoard of gold, and as the Ring is torn from his finger he puts a curse on it - whoever owns it will die. Arias: Der Welte Erbe gewänn' ich zu eigen durch dich? (‘The world's wealth I could win through you?’); Die in linder Lüfte Wehn da oben ihr lebt (‘You who aloft in the soft zephyr's breeze’); Bin ich nun frei? (‘Am I free now?’).

Siegfried: Alberich does not appear in Die Walküre but resurfaces in Siegfried. He first appears hiding behind a cliff in a forest near the cave in which Fafner, in the form of a dragon, is sleeping guarding the gold. Wotan (as the Wanderer) approaches and tells Alberich that Mime will bring a young boy to kill the dragon and will seize the gold. Alberich wakes up the dragon and tells him that if he gives him, Alberich, the gold, he will save him from being slain, but Fafner is not interested. He is killed by Siegfried. Mime and Alberich argue about the rightful heir to the gold. Siegfried emerges from the cave with the Tarnhelm and Ring, causing more curses from Alberich.

Götterdämmerung: Alberich's son, Hagen, is plotting to gain the Tarnhelm and Ring from Siegfried. In his sleep he hears Alberich encourage him to kill Siegfried and seize the Ring. Father and son can then bring about the downfall of the gods and they will be left as rulers of the world.

Created (R. 1869) by Karl Fischer; (S. and Wagner, Götterdämmerung 1876) by Carl Hill.