BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DAS RHEINGOLD

The good guys: The Rhinemaidens, Erda

The bad guys: Literally everyone else (greed does that to people)

Opera Vocab

Opera: a dramatic work in one or more acts, set to music for singers and instrumentalists

Leitmotif: a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation

The Ring cycle: a cycle of four Germanlanguage epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the Nibelungenlied.

Voice Type: soprano (highest), mezzosoprano, contralto, countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass (lowest)

Aria: a piece for one voice in an opera (a song for a solo singer). It derives from the Greek and Latin ‘aer’, meaning ‘air’.

Bravo(a): an Italian term used to celebrate a standout performance

Quick Fire Synopsis

Alberich, a power-hungry dwarf, and Wotan, King of the Gods, are both on the hunt for the mythical Rhine gold. Whoever steals it from the Rhinemadens and forges it into a ring will be granted total world domination—what’s the worst that could happen?

Alberich gets his hands on the gold, stealing it immediately. Little does he know, Wotan also needs the gold to save his daughter. (Did we forget to mention he promised his daughter as payment to two giants in exchange for a new home?) Enter the Tarnhelm—yes, another mythical item—only this time it’s a helmet that turns the wearer into whatever shape they desire. Alberich, showing off, turns himself into a toad—an animal small enough for Wotan to kidnap (and the ring with him)! Placing the ring on his finger *strong Lord of the Rings vibes* Alberich curses future owners to a destiny of death. The giants return to collect their prize, but now they want the ring AND the Tarnhelm. Wotan agrees to the helmet but isn’t about to give up the most powerful ring in the world. However, he’s quickly reminded of the deadly curse and reluctantly hands it over. The curse claims its first victim and the gods make way to their new home, Valhalla.

DAS RHEINGOLD FUN FACTS!

• The Lord of the Rings is based on the plot of the Ring cycle—in Das Rheingold, we begin the quest for the Rhine gold, the key to ultimate power. Sound familiar?

• Wagner wrote both the music and libretto for his operas.

• The complete Ring cycle lasts almost 15 hours—don’t worry, you’re here for the shortest opera in the cycle!

• It took Wagner 26 years to complete the full cycle.

OPERA TIP: Need a bathroom break? Wagner didn’t plan for one—better go quick before the show!

Scene 1

In the depths of the Rhine, the Rhinemaidens—Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde—cavort happily. They’re surprised when the Nibelung dwarf Alberich appears. Each Rhinemaiden is wooed by him, which quickly turns to teasing mockery. Suddenly Alberich’s eye is caught by something that glows mysteriously. The Rhinemaidens ecstatically hail it as the Rhinegold. Though they protect it, they inform Alberich that anyone willing to renounce love and make a ring from the gold will become ruler of the world. Having concluded that he will get no love from the Rhinemaidens, Alberich seizes the gold and rushes away.

Scene 2

In an open space, Wotan, King of the Gods, is awakened by his wife, Fricka. He gazes at a magnificent fortress on a rocky summit in the distance and hails it as the god’s new home. Fricka, however, is dismayed about the payment for its construction: the giants Fasolt and Fafner have built it, and Wotan has agreed that their payment would be Freia, Fricka’s sister and the goddess of youth. Wotan assures Fricka that Freia will not be handed over to the giants. Freia rushes in, begging for Wotan’s protection. When the giants appear, Fasolt informs Wotan that he and his brother have worked to give Wotan what he wants, and he must now keep his part of the bargain. Wotan is relieved by the arrival of Loge, the demigod of fire. Loge disappoints Wotan by revealing that, having wandered the earth searching for a possible ransom for Freia, he found nothing to equal her beauty and love. He tells Wotan that Alberich has stolen the gold, and that the Rhinemaidens are pleading for Wotan to restore it to them. The thought of possessing Alberich’s all-powerful ring instantly intrigues Wotan. Loge declares that he can obtain it through theft, but that will mean finding a way to subdue Alberich. The giants inform Wotan that they will accept the ring as an alternative to Freia, but until it is in Wotan’s hand, Freia will be their hostage. The instant they drag her away, the gods begin to age. Wotan and Loge descend to Nibelheim, Alberich’s lair.

Scene 3

Down in Nibelheim, Alberich yells at his brother, Mime, who has failed to finish the magic helmet that Alberich had ordered. Realizing that Mime intended to keep the helmet for himself, Alberich grabs it from him and puts it on. Now invisible, he is able to pummel Mime mercilessly. Alberich departs, and Loge and Wotan appear. They encounter Mime, who laments that he and the other Nibelungs are now Alberich’s slaves. Mime scuttles away as

Alberich returns. The two gods flatter him, letting him know that they have come to Nibelheim to admire everything he has created, now that he has the king’s power. Alberich demonstrates the helmet’s magic by transforming himself into a dragon. When Loge asks him to become something smaller, he changes into a toad that Wotan then traps beneath his foot. Loge takes the toad in his hand, while also seizing the helmet. Transforming back, Alberich sputters with rage as Wotan and Loge drag him away.

Scene 4

Back above Nibelheim, Alberich is now Wotan’s prisoner. When ordered to relinquish the hoard he had amassed in Nibelheim, Alberich calls to the Nibelungs, who drag up all his gold. The two gods now have the ring. Alberich resists mightily, but Wotan finally pulls the ring off his finger. Loge then informs him that he is now free, but he mocks that freedom bitterly and places a curse on the ring: that it will bring only misfortune and death to its owner.

Fricka, Donner, and Froh all now appear, welcoming the return of Wotan and Loge. The giants arrive with Freia and insist that the gold be piled before her until it blocks her from their sight. This is done, but Fasolt insists that there is a void, through which he can see her eyes. Fafner orders Wotan to fill the gap with the ring, but he refuses. Suddenly a mysterious glow brings the appearance of Erda, the earthgoddess. She urges Wotan to yield the ring, since keeping it can only lead to disaster. Wotan then agrees to the giants’ request, and Freia is restored to the gods.

The giants argue over who should take the hoard, with Fafner insisting that he should have the greater portion. At Loge’s urging, Fasolt pulls the ring away from Fafner, who strikes his brother dead, adds the ring to the hoard, and drags it all away.

Donner, god of thunder, raises his mighty hammer to dispel the mists. When the clouds lift, a rainbow bridge appears, leading to the fortress, which Wotan greets with joy. Naming it Valhalla, he invites Fricka to live with him there. Loge suddenly hears the Rhinemaidens in the depths of the river, singing for their gold. Loge orders them to stop their wailing, suggesting that they let the gods’ new radiance shine on them instead. Wotan, Fricka, and the other gods cross the bridge to Valhalla, their new home.

Synopsis by Roger Pines

Tdo Performance History

The company has performed Das Rheingold two times in the following seasons: 1982/1983 and 1998/1999.

“The incomparable thing about myth,” wrote Wagner, “is that it is true for all time. Its content through utmost compression is inexhaustible for all time.”

The mythic compression that Wagner talks about is fundamental to our concept of the Ring. Our production does not reduce the Wagnerian world to a specific time and place, but rather creates a timeless, mythological world that highlights an alternative reality of fantasy and myth.

The common trend in productions of the Ring from the late 20th century was to update the story and place it in a specific period. I understand the instinct that the Ring is an expression of a human condition and, therefore, adaptable across the scope of human history. I have seen versions of the Ring in which its gods and monsters were transposed to the industrial revolution, the gilded age, the holocaust, and modern time Las Vegas—some of these settings have made more sense than others.

More often than not though, the plot lines, the characters, the themes in this sprawling masterpiece don’t always correspond to analogous figures of a specific moment in history and something is lost.

With time, I found myself craving a world that will not limit the Ring to one specific time period or location but explore the story through its grand themes and characters. After all, Wagner intuited the connection between mythology and psychology long before Freud and Jung showed up. Back to the quote of the Wagnerian idea of compressed mythology at the beginning of this article. Wagner’s 19th century approach finds a renaissance lately with contemporary writers and creators. Stephen Fry’s brilliant books Mythos and Heroes and Neil Gaimen’s Norse Mythology, the Marvel multiverse, and The Lord of the Rings films provide examples of archetypes as timeless and universal. When stories remain mythological, they become anti-fragile—they resist the danger of becoming dated. So, what is the point of the Ring? I have been studying it for a couple of decades and I find it impossible to summarize Wagner’s rich and complex world. To those who choose to delve into it, the Ring opens a door to an endless world of philosophy, mythology, psychology, and history of the most intricate nature. However, if someone forced me to boil down the story, I would say that the Ring is ultimately about two conflicting forces: nature vs. power.

One is forever constant, the other temporary. The two major characters in the Ring, Wotan and Alberich, personify the dangers associated with lack of moderation. They are both trying to escape their mortality by amassing wealth, property, and power and the clash between them leads to disaster and their ultimate demise. Power, wealth, and material property eventually disintegrate and fall apart. What remains is nature: mountains, forest, water, sun, love.

The world we hope to create is shaped by the ultimate idea that everything in life must end at some point. Whether a slow decay or abrupt explosion, this ending is unavoidable. Nonetheless our existence consists of a series of escape attempts: make more money, gather more power, read more books, visit more cities.

I’d like to finish with a quote from one of my favorite movies Moonstruck. During the film, Olympia Dukakis, who is playing a character of a woman that is struggling with her husband’s infidelities, wonders why men cheat. She is told that the reason is that they are probably scared of dying. So, she stops her husband in the hallway and tells him a simple, blunt truth: “I just want you to know that no matter what you do, you’re still gonna die! Just like everyone else.”

Everything must end. That has been the truth since the dawn of the cosmos, and it balances the harmony of the natural world. Our futile attempts at avoiding this truth manifest in our demons, desires, and disruption of this order. Given a realm of unlimited boundaries, the Ring can encompass a complete mythology of this timeless conflict.

—Tomer Zvulun, director