Siegfried

Richard Wagner

Operas Die Feen (1833) Das Liebesverbot (1836) Rienzi (1840) Der fliegende Holländer (1843) Tannhäuser (1845) Lohengrin (1848) Tristan und Isolde (1859) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1867) Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold (1869) Die Walküre (1870) Siegfried (1871) Götterdämmerung (1874) Parsifal (1882)

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Siegfried is the third of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring.

Composition

This section requires expansion.

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

Mime comes upon Sieglinde in the forest, illustration by Arthur Rackham

Mime, Alberich's brother, is forging a blade in his cave within the forest. The Nibelung dwarf is plotting to obtain the Ring for himself, having raised Siegfried to kill Fafner for him. He needs a sword for Siegfried to use, but the youth has broken every blade he has made. Siegfried returns from his wanderings in the forest, demanding to know his parentage, and Mime is forced to explain how he took in Siegfried's mother, Sieglinde, who died giving birth. He shows Siegfried the broken pieces of Nothung, which he obtained from her, and Siegfried orders him to reforge the sword.

Siegfried (Heinrich Gudehus) forges Nothung

Siegfried departs, leaving Mime in despair: it is beyond his skill to repair Nothung. An old man (Wotan in disguise) arrives ar the door and introduces himself as the Wanderer. In return for the hospitality due a guest he wagers his head on answering any three questions or riddles from Mime. The dwarf agrees in order to dispose of his unwelcome guest. He asks the Wanderer to name the races that live beneath the ground, on the surface, and the skies. These are the Nibelung, the Giants, and the Gods, as the Wanderer correctly answers. Mime tells the Wanderer to be on his way but is forced to wager his own head on three more riddles for breaking the law of hospitality. The Wanderer asks him to name the race most beloved of Wotan, but most harshly treated; the name of the blade that can destroy Fafner; and the person who can make the blade. Mime gives the answer to the first two questions: the Wälsungs and Nothung. However, he is unable to answer the last. Wotan spares Mime, telling him that only "he who does not know fear" can reforge Nothung, and leaves Mime's head forfeit to that person.

Siegfried returns and is annoyed by Mime's lack of progress. Mime realizes that the one thing he has not taught Siegfried is fear. He tells Siegfried that fear is an essential craft; Siegfried is eager to learn it, and Mime promises to teach him by bringing him to Fafner the dragon. Since Mime was unable to forge Nothung, Siegfried decides to do it himself. He succeeds by shredding the metal, melting it, and casting it anew. In the meantime, Mime, realizing that by the terms of his agreement with the Wanderer his head is now forfeit to Siegfried, brews a poisoned drink to offer Siegfried after the youth has defeated the dragon. After he finishes forging the sword, Siegfried demonstrates its strength by chopping the anvil in half with it.

Act 2

Siegfried tastes the dragon's blood (Rackham)

The Wanderer arrives at the entrance to Fafner's cave, where Alberich is keeping a vigil. The old enemies quickly recognize each other. Alberich blusters, boasting of his plans for ruling the World once the Ring is returned to him. Wotan calmly states that he does not intend to obtain the Ring. To Alberich's surprise, Wotan wakes Fafner and informs the dragon that a hero is coming to fight him. Fafner dismisses the threat, refuses to surrender the Ring to Alberich, and returns to sleep. Both Wotan and Alberich depart.

At daybreak, Siegfried and Mime arrive. Mime decides to draw back while Siegfried confronts the dragon. As Siegfried waits for the dragon to appear, he notices a woodbird in a tree. Befriending it, he attempts to mimic the bird's song using a reed pipe, but is unsuccessful. He then plays a tune on his horn, which brings Fafner out of his cave. After a short exchange, they fight, and Siegfried stabs Fafner in the heart with Nothung.

In his last moments, Fafner learns Siegfried's name, and tells him to beware of treachery. When Siegfried draws his sword from the corpse, his hands are burned by the dragon's blood, and he instinctively puts them to his mouth. On tasting the blood, he finds that he can understand the woodbird's song. Following its instructions, he takes the Ring and the Tarnhelm from Fafner's hoard. Outside the cave, Alberich and Mime quarrel loudly over the treasure. Alberich hides as Siegfried comes out of the cave. Mime greets Siegfried; Siegfried complains that he has still not learned the meaning of fear. Mime offers him the poisoned drink. However, the dragon's blood allows Siegfried to read Mime's treacherous thoughts, and he stabs him to death. Alberich, observing from offstage, shouts sadistic laughter. Siegfried then throws Mime's body into the treasure cave and places Fafner's body in the cave entrance to block it as well.

The woodbird now sings of a woman sleeping on a rock surrounded by magic fire. Siegfried, wondering if he can learn fear from this woman, heads toward the mountain.

Act 3

Siegfried awakens Brunhild - Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1892)

The Wanderer appears on the path to Brünnhilde's rock and summons Erda, the earth goddess. Erda, appearing confused, is unable to offer any advice. Wotan informs her that he no longer fears the end of the gods; indeed, it is his desire. His heritage will be left to Siegfried the Walsung, and their child, Brünnhilde, will "work the deed that redeems the World." Dismissed, Erda sinks back into the earth.

Siegfried arrives, and the Wanderer questions the youth. Siegfried, who does not recognize his grandfather, answers insolently and starts down the path towards Brünnhilde's rock. The Wanderer blocks his path, but Siegfried breaks Wotan's spear with a blow from Nothung. Wotan calmly gathers up the pieces and vanishes.

Siegfried enters the ring of fire, emerging on Brünnhilde's rock. At first, he thinks the armored figure is a man. However, when he removes the armor, he finds a woman beneath. Uncertain about what to do, Siegfried at last experiences fear. In desperation, he kisses Brünnhilde, waking her from her magic sleep. Hesitant at first, Brünnhilde is won over by Siegfried's love, and renounces the world of the gods. Together, they hail "light-bringing love, and laughing death."

Noted excerpts

As with the rest of the Ring, a few excerpts are heard outside the opera house. The most commonly heard excerpt from Siegfried is the Forest Murmurs.

Other famous excerpts include

• Prelude to Act I
• Siegfried's Forging Song (Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!) (Act I)
• Forest Murmurs (Act II)
• Prelude to Act III
• Brünnhilde's Awakening (Heil dir, Sonne!) (Act III)
• Quotations of the Siegfried Idyll (Act III)

Recordings

See Siegfried discography.

Sources

Siegfried begins fearless, and expresses his wish to learn fear to his foster father Mime, who says the wise learn fear quickly, but the stupid find it more difficult. In a letter to his friend Theodor Uhlig, Wagner recounts The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, about a boy so stupid he could not discover what fear was—and points out that the youth and Siegfried are the same character. Although Wagner did not include the connection, the boy is taught fear by his wife, as Siegfried learns it when he discovers the sleeping Brünnhilde.^[2]

See also

• Sigurd

References

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Siegfried

• Richard Wagner - Siegfried. A gallery of historic postcards with motives from Richard Wagner's operas.
• Vocal score of Siegfried
• The libretto in German
• Washington National Opera's new interpretation of Siegfried