Week 16 - Wagner's opera | "Now that's epic"

"The Ring of the Nibelung" by Richard Wagner:

This is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner. They are called "The Rhine Gold", "The Valkyrie", "Siegfried", and "Twilight of the Gods". The title "The Ring of the Nibelung" refers to the dwarf Alberich's ring. Wagner's whole interpretation of the epic is epic in itself. The story follows gods and heroes fighting over the magic ring of Alberich because it grants power over the entire world. It took him twenty six years to complete this work and it takes about SIXTEEN hours to perform the whole opera. A HUNDRED musicians are needed to perform the opera. Wagner clearly created something gigantic. His music is timeless and beautiful.

It is interesting that Wagner incorporates legends from the "Poetic Edda" and the "Volsunga Saga". Therefore, Brunhild and Siegfried love each other here and they even have a child. Perhaps the most famous part of the opera is "The Ride of the Valkyrie" which marks Brunhilds entrance. It sounds very heroic and dramatic and it tells about the Valkyries who come to pick up the fallen warriors to bring them to Walhalla. Today the excerpt is (mis)used in countless movies often in battle scenes. Moreover, Wagner's whole opera is still performed annually at the Bayreuth Festival which is supervised by descendants of the composer.

However, Richard Wagner has become quite a controversial figure since he was Adolf Hitler's favorite composer and he himself was an antisemite. The Nazis glorified his operas for they were considered "national music" and glorified Germanic heroism. Winifred Wagner, Richard's daughter-in-law even was a close friend of Hitler and the involvement with the Nazi-regime has cast a dark shadow on the Bayreuth Festival and Wagner's music itself ever since. Yet, one should not overlook the beauty of his artwork because of his personal life and the history behind his family.