Siegfried

2024/2025 PROJECT
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN

Second Day in Three Acts
Music and Libretto by Richard Wagner

The Ring of the Nibelung, day two. Brünnhilde still sleeps behind a wall of fire. Meanwhile, the son of the forbidden union between Siegmund and Sieglinde whom the walkiria had protected, Siefried, grows up strong, naive, knowing no fear. Like the heroes of fairy tales, he sets out on his adventure: he forges anew Nothung, his father’s broken sword, slays the dragon, takes possession of its magical treasures, and by seeping its blood acquires the power to understand birdsong. He thus learns of the mysterious sleeping beauty and waking her up he finally knows with love the fear. A new era opens, that of Brünnhilde and Siegfried. Those who had initiated the events of the Ring are powerless: the young hero kills Fafner, one of the giant builders of the Walhall now mutated into a dragon, and the dwarf Mime; he prevents Alberich from regaining his power; he breaks the spear of Wotan, who in the guise of a Wayfarer willingly accepts the impending end.