 The New Century Opera presents
Twilight of the Gods
April 16 & 30 at 6:30 pm
April 18 & May 2 at 1 pm
By
RICHARD WAGNER
English Translation by
Frederick Jameson
Piano Arrangement of the Orchestrations by
Karl Klindworth
Directed by
Constantine Grame
Ye, race who abide
in blossoming life,
this rede I give to you—
heed it well!
When ye see, in the kindling fire,
Siegfried and Brünnhilde consumed;
when ye see the river-daughters
bear the ring away to the deep:
to northward then
look through the night!
When the heaven there gleams
with a holy glow,
then know ye all—
that Walhalla’s end ye behold!—
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Siegfried…………………………………………………….Kevin Nickorick
Gunther………………………………………………………...David Powers
Hagen…………………………………………………………Mark C. Payne
Alberich……………………............................................................Dale Laird
Brünnhilde…………………………………...…………Michelle Smith-Sund
Guntrune……………………………………………...Jennifer G. Stephenson
Waltraute……………………………………………..…….Doreen Summers
Woglinde………………………………………………….Mary Anne Boone
Wellgunde…………….Melody Ossi
Flosshilde……………Azure Rae Bond
1st Norn……………...Azure Rae Bond
2nd Norn............................Melody Ossi
3rd Norn....................Mary Anne Boone
Vassals: Chris Carmichael, Michael Davis, Gary Dubendorfer, Jack Fessenden, Thomas Massey, Randon Scholet
Ladies: Deanna M. Green, Julia Miner, Kathleen Monahan, Alia Petrey, Robin Snyder, Lauren M. Weber
THE STORY
PRELUDE. The Valkyries’ rock. The three Norns sing in the night of past, present and future, weaving their rope of runes. As they foretell the burning of Walhalla and the end of the gods, the rope breaks and the Norns disappear into the earth. The sun rises and Siegfried and Brünnhilde enter from their cave. She sends him forth in quest of heroic adventures in the world, giving him her horse, Grane, and receiving from him the Ring as pledge of his love.
ACT I. Scene 1. The interior of the Gibichungs’ hall on the Rhine. Gunther, Hagen, his half-brother (son of Alberich) and Gutrune, his sister, sit in conversation. Hagen urges marriage on Gunther, naming Brünnhilde as a fitting bride for him. As, however, Siegfried alone can pass through the fire to win her, he proposes that Gutrune shall win Siegfried’s love and induce him to serve Gunther. Siegfried’s horn is heard and he presently enters and is made welcome. Gutrune brings him a potion which causes him to love her, forgetting Brünnhilde. He and Gunther swear “blood-brotherhood” and depart together for Brünnhilde’s rock.
Scene 2. The Valkyries’ rock. Waltraute, a Valkyrie, comes to beg Brünnhilde to give back the Ring to the Rhine-maidens and so avert the doom of the gods. Brünnhilde refuses and sends Waltraute away to take her defiance to Walhalla. Siegfried, changed to Gunther’s shape by the Tarnhelm, comes and claims Brünnhilde as his bride. She resists and threatens him with the Ring. Siegfried struggles with her, overcomes her and wrests the Ring from her. He then commands her to go into the cave whither, after drawing his sword to lay between them as a symbol of his fidelity to Gunther, he follows her.
ACT II. Outside the Gibichungs’ hall. Early morning of the next day. After a short scene in which Alberich urges Hagen to get the Ring, Siegfried returns and tells Hagen and Gutrune of the winning of Brünnhilde and her approach with Gunther. Hagen calls together the vassals to welcome Gunther and his bride. The royal pair presently arrive and are received with great acclamation. Brünnhilde recognizes Siegfried, who does not know her, and seeing the Ring on his finger, asks Gunther what he has done with the ring he took from her. His confusion reveals the truth to her and she proclaims that she is wedded to Siegfried and not to Gunther. Siegfried swears on the point of Hagen’s spear that her accusation is false. She repeats it, taking the same oath. Siegfried, Gutrune, the vassals and ladies go out to prepare for the double wedding celebration. Gunther, Hagen and Brünnhilde, left alone, solemnly condemn Siegfried to death for his treachery.
ACT III. Scene 1. An open place on the banks of the Rhine. The three Rhine-maidens pray to the sun for the return of the Rhine-gold. Siegfried, who has strayed from his companions on a hunting expedition, comes to the river-bank. The maidens unsuccessfully attempt by wiles and warnings of ill-fate to get the Ring from him, and they finally swim away foretelling his death that very day. Gunther, Hagen and the vassals come to the place and all sit down to rest. At Hagen’s suggestion Siegfried relates the story of his life, and when he comes to the episode of the passage thought the fire, a draught is given him by Hagen which restores his memory, so that he unthinkingly tells of the waking and winning of Brünnhilde. All start up in amazement, and Hagen stabs Siegfried in the back with his spear. Siegfried falls, and after a few words sung to a vision of Brünnhilde, dies. His body is placed on a bier and borne away by the vassals with great pomp and state.
Scene 2. The interior of the Gibichungs’ hall as in Act I. Night. Gutrune comes from her chamber in anxiety about Siegfried. Presently Hagen’s voice is heard calling for torches to light the returning hunters. He enters and in reply to Gutrune’s questions tells her that Siegfried has been slain by a wild boar. The vassals enter bearing Siegfried’s body, which is placed on a bier in the center of the hall. Hagen claims the Ring as his right for slaying Siegfried, but Gunther defies him to touch Gutrune’s heritage. They fight and Gunther falls. As Hagen approaches the corpse to take the Ring, the dead Siegfried raises his arm threateningly. All start back in horror ad Brünnhilde enters at back and comes down to the bier. Here, after ordering a pyre to built on the river bank, she sings a funeral song over Siegfried. The body, from which she has taken the ring, is then placed on the pyre which she lights. Her horse is brought. She mounts it and springs into the flames which flare up and seize on the hall itself. The river overflows and rolls over the fire. The Rhine-maidens swim up and regain the Ring. Hagen rushes into the flood to get it from them but is dragged down to the depths by their arms as they swim away. In the sky a vision of Walhalla in flames is seen; the long-awaited end of the gods has come.
NOTES
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was the preeminent German opera composer of the nineteenth century. He completed thirteen operas, most of which count among the cornerstones of the operatic repertoire. His works are notable for their rich harmonies, soaring melodies, vivid characterizations and evocative, romantic settings.
The Twilight of the Gods is the final opera in Wagner’s four-part cycle entitled The Ring of the Nibelung (Der Ring des Nibelung) which as a whole tells the story of the fall of the ancient Germanic gods. The Twilight of the Gods tells a thrilling tale of love, greed, betrayal, and revenge. This opera has long been regarded as one of the most intense and emotionally-charged of all theatrical works. The Grove Dictionary of Opera says of it “The resources and stamina demanded by the work (…), combined with its sheer length and theatrical potency, make it one of the most daunting yet rewarding undertakings in the operatic repertory.”
Listen for Wagner’s innovative use of recurring musical themes (“leitmotifs”) associated with specific characters, places, and ideas. As the opera progresses you will begin to recognize the themes representing the Norns, the Rhine, Alberich’s curse, redemption by love, and many more.
A few words about the piano arrangement and English translation used in this production: The piano arrangement is by Karl Klindworth—a pupil of Franz Liszt and a close associate of Wagner. The translation, by English writer Frederick Jameson (born in 1839; about a generation younger than Wagner) is notable for its stylistic similarity to Wagner’s original German.
Wagner built his famous festival theatre in Bayreuth (in Bavaria) specifically to present The Ring of the Nibelung. Visually, our production is based on the first Bayreuth festival of 1876 and reflects Wagner’s own conception of how the opera should look. Rick Hite’s beautiful scenery is based on the paintings Wagner commissioned from landscape artist Josef Hoffmann, and Helen Campbell’s wonderful costumes are patterned after the originals by Carl Emil Doepler.
The Twilight of the Gods has been a classic of the operatic repertoire since its premiere in 1876; all of us of the New Century Opera hope you enjoy our production.
- Constantine Grame, Director
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