Das Rheingold

Clea Friend

A screening of the Kupfer/Barenboim Bayreuth production from 1992

Stockbridge Parish Church

Discover The Ring

An eight day event of talks, performances, screenings and conversations about Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Supported by the Wagner Society of Scotland

Synopsis Das Rheingold Scene One Three water-maidens – Woglinde, Wellgunde and Flosshilde – play in the dawn light on the bed of the river Rhine. Alberich, the Nibelung to whom the title of Wagner’s cycle refers, emerges from a chasm. Immediately entranced, he tries his luck with each girl in turn; each briefly feigns interest then mockingly rejects him. A shaft of sunlight reveals a stack of gold; the Rhinemaidens sing its praises and tease Alberich for his ignorance of its powers. They recall their promise to protect it: if it were stolen, the thief could forge a ring that would make him master of the world. Fortunately, this will never happen, they reassure themselves: only someone who renounces love could obtain the gold, and no one would do this – certainly not the lascivious Nibelung. But to their surprise and horror, Alberich declares a curse on love, seizes the gold, and takes it with him as he disappears from sight. Scene Two As dawn rises over the mountains, Wotan awakens and congratulates himself on procuring the fortress of Valhalla for the gods of whom he is king. His wife Fricka complains that he has contracted them to surrender her sister Freia to Fasolt and Fafner, the giants who built it. Wotan counters that he never intended to keep that promise: he expects Loge to help him find a way out, but the demigod of mischief and fire is slow to appear. The giants enter and demand Freia: Fasolt desires her for her ownsake; Fafner is excited that depriving the gods of the golden apples that only she knows how to tend will remove their immortality. Froh and Donner – gods of spring and thunder respectively, and brothers of Fricka and Freia – ineffectually threaten the giants; Wotan holds out his spear to intercept Donner’s attack, telling him to respect the contracts inscribed on its shaft. Loge eventually appears, pessimistic about Wotan’s predicament: he has searched in vain for a reward more valuable than a beautiful woman. He tells the gods about the stolen gold, which the Rhinemaidens have asked him to help retrieve, and which Alberich has now used to make a ring. Wotan is excited by the idea of acquiring the ring for himself; Fafner suggests that the Nibelung gold would be an acceptable substitute for Freia. The giants will return that evening to collect it; meanwhile they takeFreia as surety. The gods become lethargic and start to age; only Loge is unaffected. Wotan asks Loge to accompany him to Nibelheim, Alberich’s underground kingdom; they slip through a crevice in pursuit of the gold. Scene Three In his underground kingdom, Alberich finds his brother Mime with the Tarnhelm he has ordered him to make: a headpiece that can transform its wearer into any shape they wish or transport them magically to anywhere they choose. Alberich accuses Mime – accurately – of trying to keep it for himself. He dons the Tarnhelm, makes himself invisible and beats Mime to keep him at work. Other Nibelungs enter but scream and disappear in terror when Alberich tells them he has enslaved them for ever.Wotan and Loge appear and quiz Mime about the Tarnhelm, and the ring that Alberich has made for himself. Alberich returns and boasts to the visitors about the power he has obtained. Loge asks him to demonstrate the Tarnhelm: Alberich turns himself into a dragon. Loge challenges Alberich to turn himself into something very small – a toad, perhaps; when he duly does so, the visitors capture him and take him back with them to the mountaintop. Scene Four Alberich is furious at being tricked, but orders the Nibelungs to bring up the gold to purchase his freedom. He also gives up the Tarnhelm, but refuses to surrender the ring; Wotan tears it from him. Alberich casts a new and terrifying curse on the ring – it will be desired by everyone but enjoyed by no one, and anyone who wears it will die – then vanishes.The giants return for their payment. Fasolt is reluctant to part with Freia and asks that the gold should completely hide her. The gods pile it up, throwing in the Tarnhelm too, but Fasolt says that he can still see Freia’s eyes, and Fafner demands that Wotan gives up the ring to fill the crack. Loge states that it belongs to the Rhinemaidens; Wotan angrily resists both Loge’s request to return it to them and the pleas of Fricka, Freia, Froh and Donner to surrender it to the giants.As the impasse is reached, the earth goddess, Erda, appears. She reminds Wotan that she is the mother of the three Norns, conceived before the start of time, and that she sees all the events of the world. She prophesies a dark day for the gods: everything must come to an end, including them. She advises Wotan to renounce the ring.Deeply affected by Erda’s words, Wotan gives the ring to the giants. They immediately fight about who should keep it and how to divide the gold. Fafner kills Fasolt; Wotan is stunned by this immediate demonstration of Alberich’s curse. Filled with foreboding, he wants to follow Erda and ask for further advice. Fricka tries to improve his mood by suggesting that the gods enter their new home. Donner summons up a thunderstorm; from its clouds emerges a rainbow bridge. As evening falls, Wotan sings a grand encomium to Valhalla and invites Fricka to join him there. The other gods follow, but Loge does not – his association with the gods embarrasses him and he predicts that their reign will soon end, however strong they now feel. The Rhinemaidens are heard in the distance, lamenting their lost gold. The gods ignore them as they process across the bridge to Valhalla. M. Downes

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Das Rheingold

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