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Description
Siegfried (Chris Pratt) was playing his horn when suddenly Fafner the dragon (Andy Serkis) emerged from his cave.

Composition and performance history:

Wagner wrote the libretto for Siegfried in November and December of 1852. Its based on an earlier version he had prepared in June of 1851 and he originally entitled it Young Siegfried. The libretto arose from Wagner’s gradual reconception of the project he had initiated with his libretto Siegfried’s Death which was which was eventually to be incarnated in Gotterdammerung, Having grappled with his text for Siegfried’s Death and indeed having undertaken some musical sketches for it and it would need a preface. At this point Wagner conceived that the opera could act as a comic foil to the tragedy to come. Preliminary musical sketches for Siegfried’s death were quickly abandoned although Wagner had written to his friend Theodor Uhling that “The musical phrases are making themselves for the stanzas and periods, without my even having to take plans for them, It’s all growing out of the ground as if it were wild” Wagner then put Siegfried aside to compose the operas Tristan and Isolde and The Master Singers of Nuremburg. He didn’t resume work on Siegfried until 1869, when he composed the third act. The final revision of the score was undertaken in February of 1871. Siegfried was first performed at the Bayreuth Festpielhaus on August 16, 1876. During the production, the props proved troublesome. The puppet portraying Fafner the dragon didn’t show up in time, legend has it that it was sent by mistake to Beirut, Lebanon which is a country in the Middle East instead of Bayreuth, Germany. The puppet parts that did arrive in Bayreuth made the dragon look like a cross between a porcupine and a lizard. Wagner was so disappointed and upset at how the dragon turned out that he refused to come out at the end of the opera for his curtain call, instead he stayed skulking backstage.

There are fewer recognizable pieces in Siegfried compared to the other three operas, but Siegfried still boasts some great moments. One of the most famous is Siegfried’s forging song, a solo number that immediately shows us that Wagner was not in the mood for taking it easy on his lead tenor. Another well know part of Siegfried is the horn call which is considered the greatest French horn solo in the repertoire. Other famous moments are the wood bird’s brief passage, and most notably, the final love duet between Siegfried and Brünhilde.

Plot:

In a cave deep in the forest Alberich’s brother Mime is hammering a sword on an anvil. He plans on obtaining the ring from the dragon Fafner. He raised a human boy named Siegfried and he hoped that ones he grew older he would kill Fafner an get the ring for him. Mime needed a sword for Siegfried to use but Siegfried would break every sword Mime made. Siegfried returns from his wanderings in the forest and he breaks the new sword. After a whining speech by Mime about ingratitude and how Mime has brought him up when he was a baby. Siegfried senses why he keeps coming back to Mime even though he hates him: he wanted to know about his parentage, Mime explained that he found Siegfried’s mother Seglinde in the forest and she was in labor and unfortunately Seglinde died giving birth to Siegfried so Mime raised him as his own. Mime showed the broken pieces of the sword Nothung which Seglinde had left in his custody. Siegfried orders him to reforge and put the sword back together; Mime however is unable to accomplish it. Siegfried then goes for a walk in the forest leaving Mime in despair then Wotan arrives disguised as an old man and he introduces himself as the Wanderer. In return for the hospitality due to a guest, he wagers his head on answering any there questions Mime may ask. Mime asks the Wanderer to name the races that live beneath the ground, on the earth and in the skies. These are the Nibelung, the giants and the gods and the Wanderer answers correctly. The Wanderer then induces Mime to wager his own head on three further riddles: the rase most beloved of Wotan but most harshly treated; the name of the sword that can kill Fafner and the person who can repair the sword. Mime answers the first two questions: the Walsungs and the sword Nothung but Mime could not answer the last question so he lost the riddle quest, however Wotan spared Mime’s life telling him that only a person that does not know fear can reforge Nothung and he leaves Mime’s head to that person.

Mime despairs as he imagines the ferocity of Fafner, Siegfried returned and he was annoyed by Mime’s lack of progress. Mime realized that Siegfried was the person that does not know fear and unless he can instill fear in him and if not Siegfried will kill him. He tells Siegfried that fear is an essential craft; Siegfried is eager to learn it and Mime promises to teach him by taking him to Fafner’s cave. Since Mime was unable to reforge Nothung, Siegfried decided to do it himself. Siegfried shred the broken shards of the sword and then melted them down, then he pours the hot metal into a sword mold, then once the sword hardened he puts it in the forge and pumped the bellows to get it red hot, then Siegfried takes the hot sword to the anvil and hammers it into shape. While Siegfried was reforgeing the sword, Mime cooks a drink lased with poison intending to give it to Siegfried after he defeated Fafner so that he can kill Siegfried and get the ring. After Siegfried finished forging the sword, he then tests it’s strength by chopping the anvil in half. Mime then took Siegfried deep into the forest.

Meanwhile in another part of the forest Wotan arrives at the entrance to Fafner’s cave where Alberich is keeping vigil. The two adversaries recognize each other. Alberich boasts of his plans to retrieve the ring and rule the world. Wotan tells him that he does not intend to interfere, only to observe. He even offers to awaken Fafner so that Alberich can reason and bargain with him. Wotan and Alberich go into the cave and wake up Fafner, Alberich warns the dragon that a hero is coming to kill him and offers to prevent the fight in exchange for the ring. But Fafner refused Alberich’s offer and went back to sleep. Wotan leaves the disappointed Alberich who mutters threats.

The Next morning, Siegfried and Mime arrive at Fafner’s cave. Mime tells Siegfried that Fafner will teach him all about fear before leaving. As Siegfried waits for Fafner to come out of the cave, he hears a bird singing. He makes a reed pipe out of a stick and tried to imitate the bird’s song but to no avail. Siegfried then began to play a tune with his horn and the music awakened Fafner who then came out of his cave and after a short conversation Siegfried and Fafner began to fight, Siegfried dodged Fafner’s every attack and fire breath then he stabbed the dragon in the heart with Nothung.

As Fafner was dying, he tells Siegfried to beware of treachery and when Siegfried told him his name, he gasped his last breath. When Siegfried retrieved Nothung from Fafner’s corpse his hands were splattered by the dragon’s blood, he gets it off by licking it and upon tasting the blood he found that he can understand what the bird is saying and by following her instructions he went into the cave and took the ring and the Tarnhelm from Fafner’s mounds of gold, she also told him not to trust Mime. Outside the cave Alberich and Mime argue over the treasure. Alberich hides as Seigfried comes out of the cave, he tells Mime that he has still not learned the meaning of fear, Mime offers Siegfried the poisoned drink, however the dragons blood allowed Siegfried to read Mime’s terrible thoughts about killing him and taking everything from him. After hearing enough, Siegfried stabs Mime to death, he then places Mime’s corpse next to Fafner’s corpse. Then Siegfried began to feel very lonely, the bird returns to him and tells him that she saw a woman sleeping on top of a mountain surrounded by fire, The bird then leads Siegfried out of the forest and high into the mountains. Siegfried arrived and the Wonderer questions the young man. Siegfried, who does not know that the Wanderer is Wotan his grandfather in disguise, answers insolently and starts down the path towards the fiery mountain but the Wanderer bared his way. Siegfried mocks him, laughing at his floppy hat and missing then he broke his spear with Nothing. Wotan calmly gathers up the broken spear and vanished. Siegfried passes through the fire unharmed and he climbed up the mountain. When he reached the top, he saw an sleeping figure in armor, at first Siegfried thought that the sleeping figure was a man, However when he removes the armor he finds that the figure was a woman. Siegfried recoilless since he never seen or met a woman before. He then goes over to Brunhilda and kisses her. Brunhilda woke up from her magic slumber and she and Siegfried fell in love.

Description
Siegfried (Chris Pratt) was playing his horn when suddenly Fafner the dragon (Andy Serkis) emerged from his cave.

Composition and performance history:

Wagner wrote the libretto for Siegfried in November and December of 1852. Its based on an earlier version he had prepared in June of 1851 and he originally entitled it Young Siegfried. The libretto arose from Wagner’s gradual reconception of the project he had initiated with his libretto Siegfried’s Death which was which was eventually to be incarnated in Gotterdammerung, Having grappled with his text for Siegfried’s Death and indeed having undertaken some musical sketches for it and it would need a preface. At this point Wagner conceived that the opera could act as a comic foil to the tragedy to come. Preliminary musical sketches for Siegfried’s death were quickly abandoned although Wagner had written to his friend Theodor Uhling that “The musical phrases are making themselves for the stanzas and periods, without my even having to take plans for them, It’s all growing out of the ground as if it were wild” Wagner then put Siegfried aside to compose the operas Tristan and Isolde and The Master Singers of Nuremburg. He didn’t resume work on Siegfried until 1869, when he composed the third act. The final revision of the score was undertaken in February of 1871. Siegfried was first performed at the Bayreuth Festpielhaus on August 16, 1876. During the production, the props proved troublesome. The puppet portraying Fafner the dragon didn’t show up in time, legend has it that it was sent by mistake to Beirut, Lebanon which is a country in the Middle East instead of Bayreuth, Germany. The puppet parts that did arrive in Bayreuth made the dragon look like a cross between a porcupine and a lizard. Wagner was so disappointed and upset at how the dragon turned out that he refused to come out at the end of the opera for his curtain call, instead he stayed skulking backstage.

There are fewer recognizable pieces in Siegfried compared to the other three operas, but Siegfried still boasts some great moments. One of the most famous is Siegfried’s forging song, a solo number that immediately shows us that Wagner was not in the mood for taking it easy on his lead tenor. Another well know part of Siegfried is the horn call which is considered the greatest French horn solo in the repertoire. Other famous moments are the wood bird’s brief passage, and most notably, the final love duet between Siegfried and Brünhilde.

Plot:

In a cave deep in the forest Alberich’s brother Mime is hammering a sword on an anvil. He plans on obtaining the ring from the dragon Fafner. He raised a human boy named Siegfried and he hoped that ones he grew older he would kill Fafner an get the ring for him. Mime needed a sword for Siegfried to use but Siegfried would break every sword Mime made. Siegfried returns from his wanderings in the forest and he breaks the new sword. After a whining speech by Mime about ingratitude and how Mime has brought him up when he was a baby. Siegfried senses why he keeps coming back to Mime even though he hates him: he wanted to know about his parentage, Mime explained that he found Siegfried’s mother Seglinde in the forest and she was in labor and unfortunately Seglinde died giving birth to Siegfried so Mime raised him as his own. Mime showed the broken pieces of the sword Nothung which Seglinde had left in his custody. Siegfried orders him to reforge and put the sword back together; Mime however is unable to accomplish it. Siegfried then goes for a walk in the forest leaving Mime in despair then Wotan arrives disguised as an old man and he introduces himself as the Wanderer. In return for the hospitality due to a guest, he wagers his head on answering any there questions Mime may ask. Mime asks the Wanderer to name the races that live beneath the ground, on the earth and in the skies. These are the Nibelung, the giants and the gods and the Wanderer answers correctly. The Wanderer then induces Mime to wager his own head on three further riddles: the rase most beloved of Wotan but most harshly treated; the name of the sword that can kill Fafner and the person who can repair the sword. Mime answers the first two questions: the Walsungs and the sword Nothung but Mime could not answer the last question so he lost the riddle quest, however Wotan spared Mime’s life telling him that only a person that does not know fear can reforge Nothung and he leaves Mime’s head to that person.

Mime despairs as he imagines the ferocity of Fafner, Siegfried returned and he was annoyed by Mime’s lack of progress. Mime realized that Siegfried was the person that does not know fear and unless he can instill fear in him and if not Siegfried will kill him. He tells Siegfried that fear is an essential craft; Siegfried is eager to learn it and Mime promises to teach him by taking him to Fafner’s cave. Since Mime was unable to reforge Nothung, Siegfried decided to do it himself. Siegfried shred the broken shards of the sword and then melted them down, then he pours the hot metal into a sword mold, then once the sword hardened he puts it in the forge and pumped the bellows to get it red hot, then Siegfried takes the hot sword to the anvil and hammers it into shape. While Siegfried was reforgeing the sword, Mime cooks a drink lased with poison intending to give it to Siegfried after he defeated Fafner so that he can kill Siegfried and get the ring. After Siegfried finished forging the sword, he then tests it’s strength by chopping the anvil in half. Mime then took Siegfried deep into the forest.

Meanwhile in another part of the forest Wotan arrives at the entrance to Fafner’s cave where Alberich is keeping vigil. The two adversaries recognize each other. Alberich boasts of his plans to retrieve the ring and rule the world. Wotan tells him that he does not intend to interfere, only to observe. He even offers to awaken Fafner so that Alberich can reason and bargain with him. Wotan and Alberich go into the cave and wake up Fafner, Alberich warns the dragon that a hero is coming to kill him and offers to prevent the fight in exchange for the ring. But Fafner refused Alberich’s offer and went back to sleep. Wotan leaves the disappointed Alberich who mutters threats.

The Next morning, Siegfried and Mime arrive at Fafner’s cave. Mime tells Siegfried that Fafner will teach him all about fear before leaving. As Siegfried waits for Fafner to come out of the cave, he hears a bird singing. He makes a reed pipe out of a stick and tried to imitate the bird’s song but to no avail. Siegfried then began to play a tune with his horn and the music awakened Fafner who then came out of his cave and after a short conversation Siegfried and Fafner began to fight, Siegfried dodged Fafner’s every attack and fire breath then he stabbed the dragon in the heart with Nothung.

As Fafner was dying, he tells Siegfried to beware of treachery and when Siegfried told him his name, he gasped his last breath. When Siegfried retrieved Nothung from Fafner’s corpse his hands were splattered by the dragon’s blood, he gets it off by licking it and upon tasting the blood he found that he can understand what the bird is saying and by following her instructions he went into the cave and took the ring and the Tarnhelm from Fafner’s mounds of gold, she also told him not to trust Mime. Outside the cave Alberich and Mime argue over the treasure. Alberich hides as Seigfried comes out of the cave, he tells Mime that he has still not learned the meaning of fear, Mime offers Siegfried the poisoned drink, however the dragons blood allowed Siegfried to read Mime’s terrible thoughts about killing him and taking everything from him. After hearing enough, Siegfried stabs Mime to death, he then places Mime’s corpse next to Fafner’s corpse. Then Siegfried began to feel very lonely, the bird returns to him and tells him that she saw a woman sleeping on top of a mountain surrounded by fire, The bird then leads Siegfried out of the forest and high into the mountains. Siegfried arrived and the Wonderer questions the young man. Siegfried, who does not know that the Wanderer is Wotan his grandfather in disguise, answers insolently and starts down the path towards the fiery mountain but the Wanderer bared his way. Siegfried mocks him, laughing at his floppy hat and missing then he broke his spear with Nothing. Wotan calmly gathers up the broken spear and vanished. Siegfried passes through the fire unharmed and he climbed up the mountain. When he reached the top, he saw an sleeping figure in armor, at first Siegfried thought that the sleeping figure was a man, However when he removes the armor he finds that the figure was a woman. Siegfried recoilless since he never seen or met a woman before. He then goes over to Brunhilda and kisses her. Brunhilda woke up from her magic slumber and she and Siegfried fell in love.