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Director: Brian Large
Conductor: James Levine
First performance at Bayreuth, August 16, 1876
Time: mythological
Place: Germany
The story has a good synopsis, and no icky features (if you ignore the fact that Siegfried is the love child of siblings, oh, and that he and Brunnhilde are half-siblings). But sitting through 4:13 hours of this is a bit much. The music doesn't jump out at me, except the little hunting horn theme. I'd actually prefer to read the libretto than try to read the subtitles, because I could read the libretto faster.
Synopsis of the synopsis: Between this opera and the last one, Sieglinde found the dwarves, died in childbirth and Mime has raised her son Siegfried. He's an ungrateful super-man who prefers communing with the animals in the forest to dealing with Mime. However, he seems to have learned the family forging craft, because he's able to take daddy Siegmund's broken sword, turn it into shards that he melts, and creates a sword so strong it breaks the anvil in half with a single stroke.
Having learned his history, and the fact that the local dragon (really the giant Fafner transformed) is guarding a heap of gold, Siegfried sets off on a great adventure. Of course, he slays the dragon, and happens to ingest a drop of its blood. That enables him to understand a forest bird, who tells him to get the Ring and the magic helmet, forgoing the rest of the gold. Once he does, Mime tries to get him to drink some poison, but the dragon's blood lets him understand Mime's true intent, and Siegfried slays him.
The little birdy guides Siegfried to his true love, Brunnhilde. He goes through the flames and wakes her with a kiss. But he's never seen a human woman, so for the first time in his life he's afraid. They get acquainted, and we leave them thinking their future is rosy together. But Siegfried is wearing the cursed Ring, and Alberich (the originator of the curse) is lurking around.
I've left out Wotan's piece of this story, but he's just an observer/talker here, mostly speculating (at length) of the doom to come.
I got curious about the schedule for presenting the 4 operas of the Cycle.
APRIL 2, 1990 NY Times Review
The cycle that began on Saturday (3/31) continues with ''Die Walkure'' next Saturday (4/7), ''Siegfried'' on April 13 and ''Gotterdammerung'' on April 21. Two final cycles are to be presented between April 23 and May 5.
The Cycle's dvd booklet says the 4 operas were broadcast on consecutive nights in June. In one of the booklets it explains that the director combined performances and edited in some special effects (smoke/fog for example).
Any role that was in either prior opera of the Cycle has the same performer here, with the addition of Siegfried Jerusalem having played Loge in Das Rheingold. I highlighted my faves in the cast.
Cast:
WOTAN, disguised as the “Wanderer” Bass-baritone : James Morris
SIEGFRIED, son of Siegmund and Sieglinde Tenor : Siegfried Jerusalem
BRüNNHILDE, formerly a Valkyrie, now a mortal Soprano : Hildegard Behrens
ERDA, the earth goddess Contralto : Birgitta Svendén
brother Nibelungs:
. ALBERICH Baritone : Ekkehard Wlaschiha
. MIME Tenor : Heinz Zednik
FAFNER, a giant transformed into a dragon Bass : Matti Salminen (voice)
FOREST BIRD Soprano : Dawn Upshaw (Waldvogel voice)
Met Opera, cond. Levine; 7
