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4 CDs Recorded at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Germany, WAGNER on 1st October 2002 and 5th January 2003. General Director: Prof. Klaus Zehelein Siegfried Executive Producers: Dr Reinhard Ermen (SWR Radio), Dr Dietrich Mack (SWR TV) and Paul Smaczny (EuroArts) West • Göhrig • Schöne • Waag • Jun • Herrera • Ranada • Gasteen Producer: Thomas Angelkorte • Editor: Irmgard Bauer Engineers: Jürgen Buss and Karl-Heinz Runde Staatsoper Stuttgart • Staatsorchester Stuttgart This performance of Siegfried is the third part of Wagner’s Ring cycle recorded live during Stuttgart Opera’s 2002/2003 season. Lothar Zagrosek For the first time in the history of the Ring cycle each of the four operas was staged with separate producers and casts. A production of EuroArts Music International GmbH and Südwestrundfunk in co-operation with ARTE and SBS-TV Gefördert von der Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg

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Stuttgart Staatsorchester

Established in 1589 as the Court Orchestra of Württemberg, the Württemberg Stuttgart State Orchestra has a history Siegfried of over four hundred years. Over the generations there have been collaborations with musicians of distinction, among them Leonhard Lechner, the Frobergers, Niccolò Jommelli, Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, Konradin Kreutzer, The Second Day Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Carl Maria von Weber. Berlioz praised the orchestra, when he appeared with it as of conductor, and in the 1880s Stuttgart was one of the first to stage the complete Ring cycle, conducted by the then Der Ring des Nibelungen General Music Director Herman Zumpe, who had assisted Wagner at the first Bayreuth Festival. The tradition of (The Ring of the Nibelung) first performances has included Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos in 1912, conducted by the composer, in 1921 a one- by acter by Hindemith, and in recent times works by Orff, Penderecki, Glass, Zender, Riehm and Hölszky. In the twentieth century there was collaboration with Fritz Busch, Carl Leonhardt, Franz Konwitschny, Hans Swarowsky Richard Wagner and Herbert Albert, and in particular with Max von Schillings and Ferdinand Leitner, and in more recent years with (1813-1883) conductors such as Carlos Kleiber, Vaclav Neumann, Silvio Varviso, Janos Kulka, Dennis Russell Davies, Garcia Navarro and Gabriele Ferro as Music Directors and Conductor, and as guests, Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini and Siegfried ...... Jon Fredric West, Tenor Riccardo Chailly. Lothar Zagrosek took over the helm of the orchestra in 1997, and has been responsible for a number of important and innovative performances. In 2002 the orchestra was named Orchestra of the Year by Mime ...... Heinz Göhrig, Tenor Opernwelt. The work of the orchestra has included recordings and DVDs, in addition to symphony concerts and The Wanderer ...... Wolfgang Schöne, Bass chamber music performed by members of the orchestra. Alberich ...... Björn Waag, Bass Fafner ...... Attila Jun, Bass Forest Bird ...... Gabriela Herrera, Soprano Erda ...... Helene Ranada, Contralto Lothar Zagrosek Brünnhilde ...... Lisa Gasteen, Soprano Lothar Zagrosek has been General Music Director of the Stuttgart Staatsoper since 1997. In August 2006 he became Staatsoper Stuttgart • Staatsorchester Stuttgart Principal Conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Hans Swarowsky, István Kertész, Bruno Maderna and Herbert von Karajan, and was appointed Principal Conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Lothar Zagrosek Orchestra in 1982, followed by appointments as Musical Director of the Paris Grand Opéra, Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and General Music Director of Leipzig Opera. His career as a conductor has taken him, among other engagements, to Vienna and Hamburg State Operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Frankfurt Opera, the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Glyndebourne, the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna and Berlin Festival Weeks, the Munich Opera Festival and the London Promenade Concerts. Since 1995 he has been first Guest Conductor and Artistic Adviser to the German Youth Philharmonic and a regular guest with the orchestras of Bavarian Radio, West German Radio, NHK in Tokyo, the Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio France, and the RAI Orchestra in Turin. He was named by Opernwelt as Conductor of the Year in 1997 and 1999.

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Helene Ranada CD 1 54:17 3 Fühltest du nie im finstren Wald 5:00 (Mime, Siegfried) Helene Ranada is Swedish by birth. She studied singing in Malmö and Copenhagen, where she made her début as Act 1 4 Hättest du fleißig die Kunst gepflegt 3:20 Florence Pike in Britten’s Albert Herring. She appeared as Erda in Das Rheingold and as Brigitta in Die tote Stadt in (Mime, Siegfried) Stockholm, and in Oldenburg as Waltraute and the Second Norn in Götterdämmerung. In 1999 she was a finalist in 1 Vorspiel (Prelude) 3:51 5 Notung! Notung! Neidliches Schwert! 7:46 the Oslo Queen Sonja Competition, where she won the Edvard Grieg Prize. Further guest engagements have taken (Siegfried, Mime) her to the Scottish Opera in Glasgow and to the Edinburgh Festival as Erda. From 2000 to 2002 she was a member Scene 1 6 Hoho! Hoho! Hohei! Schmiede, mein Hammer, of the Vienna State Opera, with rôles including those of Annina, Erda, Flosshilde, the First Norn, Dryad in Ariadne ein hartes Schwert? 3:16 auf Naxos and Mary in The Flying Dutchman. Since 2002 she has been a member of the Stuttgart State Opera, where her rôles have included Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, 2 Zwangvolle Plage! Müh’ ohne Zweck! 3:52 (Siegfried, Mime) Schwertleite in Die Walküre and the Messenger in L’Orfeo, as well as the First Norn/Flosshilde in (Mime) 7 Den der Bruder schuf 3:00 Götterdämmerung and the First Maid in Elektra. 3 Hoiho! Hoiho! Hau ein! Hau ein! 4:16 (Mime, Siegfried) (Siegfried, Mime) 4 Als zullendes Kind zog ich dich auf 5:14 ACT II (Mime, Siegfried) 5 Es sangen die Vöglein so selig im Lenz 4:49 8 Prelude 5:32 Lisa Gasteen (Siegfried, Mime) 6 Einst lag wimmernd ein Weib 8:37 Scene 1 Lisa Gasteen studied in her native Brisbane and at the National Opera Studio in London. She made numerous (Mime, Siegfried) appearances with the Australian Opera and Victoria State Opera. In 1991 she won the Cardiff Singer of the World 9 In Wald und Nacht vor Neidhöhl’ competition. Her wide-ranging repertoire includes the rôles of Leonora in Fidelio, Senta, Isolde, Salome, Elektra, Scene 2 halt ich Wacht 2:40 Brünnhilde and Ariadne. She has appeared as a guest artiste in Prague, at the Berlin Deutsche Oper and State Opera, (Alberich) the Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, in Zurich and Strasbourg, at the Welsh National Opera, in Dallas, Melbourne, as 7 Heil dir, weiser Schmied! 4:26 0 Wer naht dort schimmernd im Schatten? 8:02 Aida at the New York Met, at the Melbourne Festival and at the Sydney Festival, as Isolde in London and as (Wanderer, Mime) (Alberich, Wanderer) Brünnhilde at the Meiningen Theatre. She has appeared as Isolde at Stuttgart. 8 Wie werd’ich den Lauernden los? 8:07 ! Mit Mime räng’ich allein um den Ring? 7:22 (Mime, Wanderer) (Alberich, Wanderer, Fafner) 9 Nun rede, weiser Zwerg 3:06 (Wanderer, Mime) CD 3 72:17 0 Nun, ehrlicher Zwerg 7:59 (Wanderer, Mime) Scene 2

CD 2 50:50 1 Wir sind zur Stelle! Bleib hier stehn! 7:14 (Mime, Siegfried) Scene 3 2 Daß der mein Vater nicht ist 9:41 (Siegfried) 1 Verfluchtes Licht! 1:45 3 Haha! Da hätte mein Lied mir was (Mime, Siegfried) Liebes erblasen 6:04 2 Bist du es, Kind? 3:09 (Siegfried, Fafner) (Mime, Siegfried)

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4 Wer bist du, kühner Knabe 4:49 CD 4 62:58 Attila Jun (Fafner, Siegfried) 5 Ist mir doch fast, als sprächen die Vöglein Scene 2 Attila Jun was born in 1973 in Seoul and qualified at Seoul National University under Philip Kang. He studied with zu mir 1:51 Hans Sotin in Cologne and was a prize-winner in various singing competitions. Guest engagements as Hunding took (Siegfried, Voice of the Forest Bird) 1 Dort seh’ich Siegfried nahn 3:59 him to Rome under Sinopoli, to Toulouse and to Wels, where he sang Fafner. Appearances followed as Procida in I (Wanderer, Siegfried) vespri siciliani in Schwerin, as the Nightwatchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Bayreuth, as Timur, the Grand Inquisitor and Oroveso in San Francisco, and as Daland in The Flying Dutchman and the Landgraf in Scene 3 2 Was lachst du mich aus? 4:15 Tannhäuser at La Scala, Milan. He has also appeared in Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Madrid, San Sebastián, (Siegfried, Wanderer) Barcelona and Seoul. From 1999 to 2003 he undertook regular guest engagements at Bayreuth. His rôles in Stuttgart 6 Wohin schleichst du eilig und schlau 5:07 3 Bleibst du mir stumm, stärrischer Wicht? 4:31 have included Sparafucile, the Hermit in Der Freischütz, the Grand Inquisitor, Ferrando in Il trovatore, Timur and (Alberich, Mime) (Siegfried, Wanderer) King Marke, with Fasolt, Hunding, and Fafner in Siegfried and Wagner in Doktor Faust. 7 Willkommen, Siegfried! 7:18 4 Orchesterzwischenspiel (Mime, Siegfried, Alberich) (Orchestral Interlude) 5:19 8 Neides Zoll zahlt Notung 3:05 (Siegfried) Scene 3 9 Heiß ward mir von der harten Last 3:27 (Siegfried) 5 Selige Öde auf sonniger Höh’! 4:01 Gabriela Herrera 0 Nun sing! Ich lausche dem Gesang 4:36 (Siegfried) Gabriela Herrera completed her music studies in 1992 at the Juilliard School in New York and attended master-courses (Siegfried, Voice of the Forest Bird) 6 Das ist kein Mann! 7:24 with Elly Ameling and Kurt Equiluz. She made her début at the Mexico National Opera as Violetta and also appeared as (Siegfried) Adina in L’elisir d’amore. After a festival engagement at Brunswick, in 1996 she joined the Stuttgart State Opera, where ACT III 7 Brünnhilde’s Awakening 2:11 she has sung Papagena, Pamina, Dorina in Sarro’s Dorina e Nibbio, Mascha/Milovsor in The Queen of Spades, 8 Heil dir, Sonne! Heil dir, Licht! 3:41 Amore/Valletto in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Elvira in L’italiana in Algeri, Adele in Die ! Prelude 2:04 (Brünnhilde, Siegfried) Fledermaus, Waltraute in Die Walküre and Tebaldo in Don Carlo. Other rôles have included Ghita in Una cosa rara, 9 Siegfried! Siegfried! Seliger Held! 6:30 Liù in Turandot and Musetta in La Bohème, as well as Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia and the Fourth Maid in Elektra. Scene 1 (Brünnhilde, Siegfried) 0 Dort seh’ich Grane 6:25 @ Wache, Wala! Wala! Erwach! 2:15 (Brünnhilde, Siegfried) (Wanderer) ! Sangst du mir nicht 2:26 # Stark ruft das Lied 2:52 (Siegfried, Brünnhilde) (Erda, Wanderer) @ Ewig war ich, ewig bin ich 4:14 $ Mein Schlaf ist Träumen 4:15 (Brünnhilde, Siegfried) (Erda, Wanderer) # Dich lieb’ich, o liebtest mich du! 5:28 % Wirr wird mir, seit ich erwacht 3:22 (Siegfried, Brünnhilde) (Erda, Wanderer) $ Lachend muß ich dich lieben 2:35 ^ Weißt du, was Wotan will? 4:17 (Brünnhilde, Siegfried) (Wanderer)

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Wolfgang Schöne Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Siegfried Wolfgang Schöne, the Wanderer in Siegfried, studied at the Musikhochschule in Hanover and Hamburg, before embarking on a career as a concert singer. As a member of the Stuttgart State Opera from 1973 to 2005 his rôles Wagner’s tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Munich. In spite of Wagner’s duplicity, Ludwig included those of Don Giovanni, Wolfram, Amfortas, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Ford, Eugene Onegin, Orest of the Nibelung) was first performed as a whole in continued his financial support, although the and Barak, the General in Henze’s We come to the river, Pentheus in Die Bassariden, the Dutchman, Don Alfonso August 1876 at the new Festspielhaus in Bayreuth. The Festspielhaus had been built partly through help in Così fan tutte, King Roger, Mamm’Agata in Le convenienze teatrali, the father in Hänsel und Gretel, Dr. complete cycle consists of a Prologue, Das Rheingold solicited from friends in Berlin, the new centre of power Schön/Jack the Ripper in Lulu, Lindorf, Coppelius, Dappertutto, Dr Miracle in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Ludovico (The Rhinegold), followed the next day by Die Walküre in Germany, whose leader Wagner had celebrated in his Nardi in Die Gezeichneten, and Jochanaan in Salome. Finally he sang Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde. With a (The Valkyrie), and then by Siegfried, leading up to the Kaisermarsch in 1871. repertoire of over seventy rôles he made guest appearances at the State Operas of Vienna, Munich and Hamburg, at final Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam and at the Salzburg Festival. He was named Wagner’s first sketches for the libretto of the third Synopsis Kammersänger in 1978. projected opera, initially under the title Jung-Siegfried (Young Siegfried) and then Der junge Siegfried (The CD 1 Young Siegfried), were written in 1851, with the text of the whole tetralogy completed in the years immediately Act I following. The music was composed from 1856 onwards, with a break after the orchestral sketch of Act Prelude Björn Waag II in 1857, and the first two acts fully scored in 1864 and 1865. He started work on Act III only in 1869 and the 1 The Prelude to Act I reflects the thoughts of the Born in Norway, the baritone Bjørn Waag first studied singing, conducting, musicology and philosophy. From 1979 scoring of the whole work was completed in 1871. Nibelung Mime. to 1981 he was cultural editor of the Morgenbladet, the oldest daily newspaper in Norway. In the latter year he Siegfried was first heard at the new Festspielhaus at participated in the master-classes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin and Ernst Haefliger in Munich and had his Bayreuth in 1876, as part of the tetralogy. As before, Scene 1 first engagement at Trier from 1984 to 1987, when he was invited to join the Bremen Opera. In 1997 he joined the leading motifs associated with characters, events and National Theatre in Mannheim. His repertoire of some ninety rôles covers most of those for his voice, from ideas in the drama, recur, interwoven to unify the whole 2 Mime sits by the forge in his cave in the forest, Papageno to Faninal, Beckmesser and Alberich. conception. hammering out a sword and complaining about his The sources of the drama were found in Icelandic endless labour. He can make swords strong enough for sagas, the thirteenth-century Middle High German Das giants, but Siegfried breaks them in two like children’s Nibelungenlied and the Old Norse Thidreks Saga af toys, but if he could join together the blade of the great Bern, but Wagner had recourse to a wide range of other sword Nothung, Siegfried would be able to kill the dragon reading, while the structure of the tetralogy and the giant Fafner, and then Mime could gain possession of the underlying theme of the curse owes a strong debt to ring. He continues his work and his complaint. Aeschylus and Greek tragedy. Siegfried embodies something of Wagner’s immensely impractical political 3 Siegfried comes cheerfully in from the forest. He is speculation. The infatuated young King Ludwig might leading a bear, jokingly provoking it to attack Mime, be a new Siegfried, to release Germany, represented by who cowers in fear. Siegfried sets the bear free and it Brünnhilde, but Ludwig was to be flatteringly identified trots back to the wood. He had sought a friend in the with other Wagnerian heroes, with Lohengrin and then forest, sounded his horn and been joined by the bear. with Parsifal. The score of Siegfried, however, was Mime has forged a sword for Siegfried, who takes the withheld from Ludwig by Wagner, who now had his eye offered weapon, looking at it critically. He strikes the on a connection with Berlin, while plans for the anvil with it and the sword breaks in pieces. He abuses Festspielhaus in Bayreuth seemed to deprive Ludwig of Mime for his bad craftsmanship. Mime reproaches the centre of Wagnerian opera that he had wanted in Siegfried for his ingratitude.

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4 He has looked after Siegfried, as he explains in his so- 8 Mime, anxious to defeat the unwanted guest, asks Jon Fredric West called nursing song, but is only hated in return. Siegfried what race lives in the depths of the earth, and the admits that he has learned much from Mime, but never Wanderer tells him the Nibelungs, who were forced by a Jon Fredric West was born in Dayton, Ohio, and studied at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Juilliard Opera to like him. In fact he cannot stand him, always magic ring to provide a rich treasure for Alberich, who Theatre. He sang rôles such as Tannhäuser, Siegfried in Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, Tristan, the Emperor if recognising the evil in him and preferring the company sought to rule the world with it. To the second question Die Frau ohne Schatten and Otello at the Munich Prinzregenten Theater, the Bavarian State Opera, the Deutsche of animals. Mime tries to come near him, saying that in as to the race living on the surface of the earth, the Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, the Rome Teatro dell’Opera, the Madrid Teatro Real, Covent Garden and the his heart he really loves him, as a young bird loves its Wanderer answers that it is the giants; the giants Fasolt Chicago Lyric Opera, as well as at the New York Met, and appeared at the Salzburg Festival and the Festival de mother. and Fafner took the Nibelungs’ treasure and Fafner then Musica de Canarias. In Zurich he sang the male title-rôle in Samson et Dalila, in Tel Aviv and San Francisco Canio killed his brother, taking the form of a dragon and in Pagliacci, and Florestan at La Fenice. He has worked with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin 5 Siegfried, though, has seen animals in the forest and guarding the treasure. Mime asks a third question as to Davis, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle and Seiji Ozawa. He has also been heard in asks where the woman is who is his mother. Mime what race lives above. The Wanderer tells him that gods Stuttgart as Canio and as Tristan. claims to be both mother and father to him, but he has live in the cloud-covered heights and their ruler is seen his reflection and knows he in no way resembles Wotan, in Valhalla. He has a spear and on it are the Mime. He asks where his true parents are. Mime decrees that make the Nibelungs and giants subject for declares that he is no relation to Siegfried, but took him ever to the gods. in out of pity. 9 Mime’s questions were nothing, but now Mime too must Heinz Göhrig 6 He had found Sieglinde in the forest, about to give wager his head against three questions from the Wanderer. birth to a child, and sheltered her for pity. She died and Heinz Göhrig, whose rôles have included those of the Second Priest in Die Zauberflöte and Goro in Madama Mime looked after the child. In answer to Siegfried’s 0 He asks first the name of the family that has been the Butterfly, was born in Heidelberg, where he studied singing at the Musikhochschule. After a three-year engagement question, he tells him that his mother said that the child object of Wotan’s anger, although he loves them. Mime at the Freiburg Theatre, in 1988 he joined the Stuttgart State Opera, where he has appeared in the first performance must be called Siegfried and that her name was answers correctly that it is the family of the Volsungs, of Zender’s Don Quijote de la Mancha, in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, as the tenor in Le Sieglinde. The sword was left him by his mother. Siegmund and Sieglinde, and their offspring Siegfried. convenienze teatrali, as Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Pietro in Die Gezeichneten, Corrado in Una cosa Siegfried orders Mime to repair immediately the broken The Wanderer asks what sword Siegfried must use to rara, and as Steersman, David, Cassio, and Truffaldino. He also sang Melot in Tristan und Isolde, Hauk-Schendorf sword, threatening him. With it he will go forth into the kill Fafner, and is told that it is Nothung. Mime rashly in The Makropulos Case and the Governor in Simplicius Simplicissimus, Mime in Siegfried and Beelzebuth/A world, happy and free, and never come back. He dashes continues with the story of Nothung, broken by the spear Student in Doktor Faust. In 1995 he made guest appearances at the Munich State Opera with the title-rôle of out into the forest, leaving Mime calling after him, of Wotan, but to be mended by a clever smith and used Henze’s Der junge Lord, in 1997 at the Bonn Opera as Mime in Das Rheingold and in 2001 as Scaramuccio in before returning to the anvil and musing on the by a childish hero for Mime’s own profit. The Wieler’s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburg Festival. In 1998 he was named Kammersänger of the Stuttgart State impossibility of mending the sword and letting Siegfried Wanderer’s third question as to who will join together Opera. deal with Fafner. again the broken sword Mime cannot answer; his life now must be at the mercy of the one who will forge Scene 2 Nothung, the one who is fearless. The Wanderer leaves, smiling, while Mime sinks down on his stool in fear. 7 Wotan, in the guise of the Wanderer, comes out of the forest. He wears a long blue cloak, carrying a spear as a CD 2 staff. On his head is a wide-brimmed hat. He seeks Mime’s hospitality, which the latter is unwilling to give. Scene 3 The Wanderer offers to stake his life on being able to answers Mime’s questions, if he fails; if he succeeds, he 1 Shuddering, Mime looks towards the forest, now lit claims hospitality. by an accursed light that seems to approach, Fafner coming for him. With a cry, he collapses behind the anvil. Siegfried comes cheerfully in.

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4 The light of the flames becomes more evident and 9 She tells him how she has loved him. Siegfried thinks 2 He looks around for Mime, and when he sees him Scene 1 Siegfried goes on, blowing his horn, the fire soon he sees his mother, but Brünnhilde tells him his mother asks why he is hiding behind the anvil. He asks about the engulfing the whole scene, only subsiding as Siegfried has not returned for him. She promises him her sword. Mime recalls that only the one who has never 9 Outside Fafner’s cave Alberich is watching, in the approaches the rock where Brünnhilde lies, her horse knowledge, for it was for him that she struggled and known fear will forge the sword and resolves to teach forest and the night. He is aware of a light, although it is Grane beside her. strove, but Siegfried cannot yet understand. Siegfried this lesson, thereby saving his own life. still night. Siegfried asks what fear is. Mime tells him that his Scene 3 0 She looks at her horse and her weapons that no longer mother has said that he must learn what fear is, before 0 In a ray of moonlight he sees the Wanderer, whom he protect her. Burning with love, Siegfried tries to going out into the world. recognises, angrily bidding him away. Wotan tells him 5 Siegfried looks at the scene in wonder, seeing the embrace her, but she leaps away from him, a maiden that he comes only to watch, since he cannot, as horse and Brünnhilde’s shining armour, raising her untouched even by gods. Reminded of her love for him, 3 Mime talks of the terrors of the darkness in the forest, Alberich reminds him, break his agreement with Fafner, shield to reveal her, as she sleeps. He is in wonder at her she understands that she will lose her wisdom. strange noises and mysterious lights that make him who had been given the ring and other treasure in return beauty and with his sword he cuts her free from the tremble. Siegfried knows nothing of this, but Mime will for the release of the goddess Freia. Alberich threatens shackles that bind her. ! Brünnhilde tries to keep Siegfried away from her, take him to Fafner, who will teach him. Mime admits Wotan with his plans to seize power through the ring and realising the consequences for them both. that he cannot mend the sword. storm Valhalla, to become ruler of the world. Wotan 6 He trembles, thinking that now perhaps he has calmly answers that Alberich’s ambitions do not worry learned fear, and calls on his mother for help. He seeks @ Struggling with her feelings, in the end she starts to 4 Siegfried takes the broken pieces, files them down him. He tells Alberich of Siegfried, who knows nothing to wake Brünnhilde, kissing her as she sleeps. give way to his love and her own emotions. and heats the forge until it is glowing hot. Mime now of the ring, and of Mime’s cunning plot: Mime is the realises that it is Siegfried who will kill him, but only one seeking the ring, while Siegfried is his own 7 She slowly wakes, opening her eyes, regarded by # Siegfried declares his love for her. Now they both feel resolves, nevertheless, to use Siegfried to kill the dragon master, to do or die. Siegfried. the rapture of their passion. Fafner and then to try to take the ring from him. ! Alberich, then, has only Mime to contend with, but 8 Brünnhilde greets the sun, after her long sleep, and $ Brünnhilde bids farewell to Valhalla and willingly 5 Siegfried, who now knows the name of the sword, the Wanderer tells him that the hero is approaching; if seeks to know who it is that has wakened her. sees the twilight of the gods, herself united with Nothung, sings to it, as he forges it anew, describing Fafner is warned, he might give up the ring. He calls out Spellbound, Siegfried tells her how he came through the Siegfried for ever. what he is doing, how he felled a tree in the forest, which to Fafner, waking the dragon in his cave. Fafner, fire and reveals to her his name. She thanks the gods, now blazes in the forge. Mime makes ready a drugged however, will not listen to the warning, since fate will greeting the world and the earth, now her long sleep is Keith Anderson drink to give Siegfried after the combat with Fafner, dictate the outcome. Wotan goes and Alberich, swearing over. Siegfried joins her in an expression of their joy. while the hero happily continues his work. revenge, hides among the rocks.

6 Enjoying his task, Siegfried bids his hammer strike CD 3 and continues his song, while Mime is busy with his own plans. Scene 2

7 Mime has now prepared the poison for Siegfried, 1 It is dawn as Mime and Siegfried approach Fafner’s while the latter takes the sword, made whole again, and cave, where Mime tells Siegfried he is to learn the strikes the anvil, breaking it in two, holding Nothung on necessary lesson of fear and goes on to describe the high. terrible dragon. Siegfried has no apprehension and suggests how the dragon should be killed. Mime asks Act II him if he is yet afraid, but Siegfried thinks nothing of all this lesson, rejecting Mime’s professed love for him. 8 The Prelude suggests the depth of the dark forest, by Mime tells him that in the daylight the dragon will come Fafner’s cave, and contains, near the end, the motif of out to drink at the spring, and Siegfried tells Mime to Alberich’s hatred. stay by the spring, in that case: if he does not, he can be

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gone. Mime hopes the two, Fafner and Siegfried, may to who shall have the treasure, one claiming to have He asks the bird what this feeling is in his heart and the CD 4 kill each other, as he goes away into the forest. been the creator of the ring, and the other of the Tarncap. bird tells him that it is love. He asks if he will be able to Mime suggests they should share the treasure, but pass through the fire, and the bird tells him that one who Scene 2 2 Siegfried, stretched out under a linden-tree, is glad Alberich angrily rejects the proposal. They are surprised does not know fear can accomplish this. He asks how he that Mime is not his father: Mime’s son would look like to see Siegfried emerging from the cave, with the shall find the rock, and the bird flies off, leading the 1 Dawn is breaking, and the Wanderer sees Siegfried him, but he wonders what his own father and mother Tarncap and the ring, which Mime thinks he can soon way, Siegfried following. approaching. Siegfried, following the forest-bird, enters. were like, and if all human mothers die if they bear a take from him. Siegfried does not understand what use The bird suddenly stops in its course, fluttering about, as son. He longs to see his own mother. In the stillness of these things are to him, but resolves to keep them as Act III it sees the Wanderer, before quickly disappearing into the morning he hears the singing of the birds and asks symbols of his fight against Fafner, although he still has the background. Siegfried is about to continue his again about his mother. Mime had told him that there not learned how to fear. He puts the Tarncap in his girdle Scene 1 journey, when the Wanderer asks him where he is going. was a way of understanding the song of birds. He tries and the ring on his finger. The voice of the bird is heard Siegfried tells him he is looking for a rock surrounded out the way he has been told, by making a reed-pipe and again, warning him not to trust Mime, whose thoughts ! The Prelude recalls the wandering of Wotan, bound by fire, and on the rock a woman, whom he is to wake. imitating the birds, but the sound from the hastily he will be able to read through the dragon’s blood. by the agreements he has made and fated to wander. In answer to the Wanderer’s further questions, he tells fashioned reed is not good. He hears a bird sing again him that a bird had brought him there and that he could and throws the reed away. 7 He stands watching Mime approach and Mime @ There is thunder and lightning, as Wotan approaches understand the bird because of the blood of the dragon welcomes him, asking him if he has learned fear, but a cave at the foot of the rock where Brünnhilde lies. He that he had killed. He explains how Mime had brought 3 Siegfried takes his horn and plays. The horn-call Siegfried tells him he found no teacher. In spite of his calls on Erda, goddess of fate, to awake and rise from the him to the dragon’s cave and the sword he used that he rouses Fafner, who emerges slowly from his cave, then seemingly friendly words, his thoughts, audible to depths. had forged himself. He asks the old man to tell him the stops, looking at Siegfried. The latter, unperturbed, asks Siegfried, express his hatred for the boy, to Mime’s way to the rock he seeks, but the Wanderer urges Fafner to teach him how to fear and then taunts him, and, consternation. Mime offers Siegfried the draught he has # Erda slowly rises from the depths of the earth, patience. seizing his sword, attacks him. After a brief combat, prepared, adding, in his thoughts, his intention of taking waking. Wotan tells her he has come to seek her advice; Siegfried pierces Fafner to the heart. Siegfried’s sword and the treasure. Mime claims that he has wandered long and far, but she knows more than 2 Siegfried threatens him, anxious to continue his Siegfried has not understood him and urges him further he does. quest, which this strange man is obstructing. The 4 As the dragon dies, he tells of the accursed gold and to drink, adding that the drink will soon render him Wanderer rebukes him for his lack of respect to an elder, how he killed his brother Fasolt and now he, the last of insensible, so that Mime can chop his head off and gain $ She tells him to seek counsel from her daughters, the but Siegfried offers him the same fate as Mime, asking the giants, is dying. He warns Siegfried of the danger possession of the ring. He is again astonished that Norns, spinners of fate, but it is Erda’s wisdom that why he wears such a broad-brimmed hat and why he has from the one who brought him there. Siegfried pulls his Siegfried has heard his murderous thoughts. Siegfried Wotan seeks. She tells him to seek out Brünnhilde, the only one eye, threatening him once more. sword out of the mortal wound and feels the giant’s strikes him dead with his sword, while Alberich, from Valkyrie, that she bore for him. He inveighs against the blood on his hand burning like fire. his hiding-place, laughs. Valkyrie, sleeping and only to be wakened by a mortal. 3 Siegfried continues to urge the Wanderer out of his way to the sleeping woman, led by the forest bird, sent to 5 Siegfried puts his hand to his lips, to soothe the pain, 8 Siegfried throws Mime’s body into the cave, and % Erda is angry at Brünnhilde’s fate. He seeks to know protect Siegfried, the Wanderer adds. He tells the boy and now understands the song of the bird, which tells drags the dragon’s to cover the mouth of the cave, both about the end of the gods, and Erda tells him that he is no how the maiden is surrounded by flames at his command him to seek in Fafner’s cave the Nibelung’s gold, the to guard the treasure. longer a god. and that whoever wakes and wins her makes his own Tarncap, and the ring, which will give him power over power vanish for ever. He blocks Siegfried’s path, turns the whole world. Siegfried thanks the bird for this 9 Tired, he stretches out under the linden-tree. He tells ^ Wotan wills her wisdom at an end; Siegfried must be his spear towards the rocky heights. A dim light is seen, counsel, as he enters the cave. the bird of his loneliness, with no brother or sister, no his heir, possessor of the ring and safe from Alberich, gradually brightening and glowing, but Siegfried shows father and no mother, his only companion an ugly dwarf. since he does not know fear. Siegfried will wake no fear. When the Wanderer uses his spear against the Scene 3 From the bird he seeks counsel and a companion. Brünnhilde and she, with her knowledge, will save the sword, Nothung, it is now the spear that breaks, and with world. He orders Erda back, now to eternal sleep, and it Wotan’s power. The Wanderer can no longer stand in 6 Mime returns, looking around to make sure that 0 He bids the bird sing and is told of a wonderful she disappears again into the depths of the earth. Siegfried’s way, and suddenly disappears. Fafner is dead. At the same time Alberich appears, woman, who sleeps on a high rock, surrounded by preventing Mime entering the cave. The two quarrel as flames; if Siegfried wakens her, Brünnhilde will be his.

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6 Enjoying his task, Siegfried bids his hammer strike CD 3 and continues his song, while Mime is busy with his own plans. Scene 2

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Stuttgart Staatsorchester

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8.660175-78 16 NAXOS NAXOS Comprising four separate operas, Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) took 25 years to complete. Centred around a ring of power and the attempts of various people to acquire it, the Ring cycle explores the relationship between love and earthly power and the themes of yearning and loss, all within a setting of medieval legend. The third opera of the cycle, Siegfried, deals with the life of the young hero, his release from the evil dwarf Mime, who has nurtured him for his own ends, his 8.660175-78 killing of the dragon Fafner, and his braving of the surrounding flames to wake the Valkyrie Brünnhilde from her enchanted sleep. DDD

Stuttgart State Opera has been voted Opera Theatre of the Year four times by critics in Austria, W S e

Switzerland and Germany. “Lothar Zagrosek’s shaping of the score is unerringly vivid.” BBC Music t a s

Playing Time t a

Magazine, June 2004. t • s

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WAGNER: WAGNER t S g c

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Siegfried ...... Jon Fredric West, Tenor a r g c

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Mime ...... Heinz Göhrig, Tenor e J s u t t Siegfried n e

The Wanderer ...... Wolfgang Schöne, Bass •

S H t u www.naxos.com Made in Canada Booklet notes and synopsis in English e

Alberich ...... Björn Waag, Bass t r t r g e & a r r Fafner ...... Attila Jun, Bass a t

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R Forest Bird ...... Gabriela Herrera, Soprano L a 2007 Naxos Rights International Ltd. o n t h a a Erda ...... Helene Ranada, Contralto d r a

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a Brünnhilde ...... Lisa Gasteen, Soprano G g a r o s t s e e e k Staatsoper Stuttgart • Staatsorchester Stuttgart n Lothar Zagrosek

A full track listing can be found on pages 3 and 4 of the booklet 8.660175-78 The German libretto can be found at www.naxos.com/libretti/660175.htm 8.660175-78 Recorded live at the Staatstheater Stuttgart, Germany, on 1st October, 2002 and 5th January, 2003 General Director: Prof. Klaus Zehelein • Executive Producer: Dr Reinhard Ermen Producer: Thomas Angelkorte • Editor: Irmgard Bauer • Engineers: Jürgen Buss and Karl-Heinz Runde Booklet Notes: Keith Anderson • Cover photograph of Lisa Gasteen and Jon Fredric West by A.T. Schaefer