Philharmonie Luxembourg hosted a magnificent concert, Wagner's Siegfried on February 11. Conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks* played the third part of the Nibelungen Ring quatrology. Composed of three acts and lasts 5,5 hours with the pauses, this immense work captured the hearts of all who seated in Grand Auditorium.
In the concert which was almost sold out, we had the chance to witness wonderful performances of Simon O’Neill as Siegfried, Peter Hoare as Mime, Danae Kontora as Waldvogel and Anja Kampe as Brünnhilde** as well as Michael Volle -Der Wanderer, Georg Nigl -Alberich, Franz-Josef Selig -Fafner and Gerhild Romberger -Erda.
Performing Wagner is considered to be one of the most difficult in all history of opera, due to the challenging tonality and very long acts. Only exceptional singers can sing Wagner. Playing or conducting is also as much as challenging. Therefore, I thank and congratulate all the artists for sharing their music and organizers for providing us this memorable concert.
Sigefroi
The concert was particularly special for Luxembourgish people, because Siegfried (Sigefroi) ıs considered to be the founder of Luxembourg in 963, "based on an exchange of land with the abbey of Saint-Maximin in Trier. In exchange for land in Feulen, near Ettelbrück, Sigefroi acquired a castle built on a rocky promontory overlooking the Alzette valley. By building a small castle there, he brought the name Luxembourg (Lucilinburhuc) to light for the first time in history. Indeed, this castle constitutes the core of the future city."1
"Sigefroi belonged to a noble family of the Meuse-Moselle region but did not yet bear the title of Count of Luxembourg; it was not until his great-grandson Conrad I that the name "Count of Luxembourg" appeared for the first time in the history of the country in a deed of 1083, by which he founded the Benedictine Abbey of Munster".1
Legend of Melusina
I will take a step outside of the opera and will complement Sigefroi's story with Melusina (the fairy, a mythical character of the Middle Ages present in various regions of Europe.) which takes important place for the legend of foundation of the city Luxembourg.
"In one of his hunting trips, Count Siegfried lost his way and ended up in the beautiful Alzette valley, close to the “Bockfiels”, upon which stood the ruins of a Roman castle. Suddenly, he heard a wonderful song coming from the rock. Following the sound, he saw a beautiful girl sitting high among the ruins of the old castle: Melusina. Captivated, he could not forget her and often return to the place in order to see her again. When he finally found her again, he declared his love and asked her to become his wife. She accepted, but under two conditions: she should never be required to leave the cliffs and he would never ask to see her on Saturdays when she wished to be alone. Siegfried swore that he would meet those demands.
He acquired the Bockfiels in order to allow Melusina not to leave it. For years and years, the couple lived happy days, Melusina gave birth to seven children and Siegfried was true to his words. But one day, jealousy overcame him, he could not resist the temptation and looked through the keyhole to see what his wife was doing on Saturdays. He saw her lying in her bath, combing her hair, and he discovered that from the waist down, her feet were replaced by a fishtail. When Melusina noticed Siegfried had broken his promise, she fell into an abyss that opened up beneath her feet, never to be seen again.
The legend continues that she is bound to reappear on the rocks every seven years and waits for someone to free her. She has taken the form of a fiery snake and to free her, you’ll have to use your mouth to take a key out of her mouth and throw it into the Alzette river. If the curse remains unbroken, Melusina continues weaving a shirt, adding one stitch every seven years. The day she finishes the shirt, she will be delivered from her spell, but all of Luxembourg and its people will vanish into the rock with her."2
Tolkien and the resemblances of both "Ring"s
Even though Tolkien himself don't agree and noted that “Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceased.”, it is not strange to recall J.R.R. Tolkien's modern saga Lord of The Rings (LoTR), when we talk about Wagner's Nibelungen Ring. Both finds its source from Nordic-Germanic Mythology, there are resemblances in structure and characters too.
Nibelungen Ring has 4 parts; Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. While first part Rheingold tells the background story of how magical Ring has come to existence from the gold of the Rhein, the others tell the story after that in three days. LoTR also begins with Hobbit and continue with three books where we read the story after that.
Wagner's hero Siegfried is reflected as Aragorn and Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in LoTR.
The wanderer is Wotan (Odine) in disguise and have both similarities with Gandalf and Aragorn. Alberich, dwarf, the forger of the ring, is similar to Sauron, while his brother Mime is the closest to Gollum. Fafner is the dragon Smaug in the Hobbit, and also reminds Gollum.
Waldvogel (The Bird of Forest) is represented directly as the trees in the forest, while Siegfried's love beautiful Walkyrie Brünnhilde recalls us elf princess Eowyn.
While pointing the similarities, one shouldn't miss the essential difference between their universe that is mentioned by Jamie McGregor;
"The cosmos of Wagner's Ring is Pagan, fatalistic, inescapably tragic, the only hope it offers the bleakly Schopenhauerian one of denying the Will and embracing the oblivion. The world comes into being spontaneously, and even in its Edenic age, there is inequality, suffering and cruelty. ... By complete contrast, Tolkien's universe, while pessimistic in its way, is at the deepest level a Christian one and allows for the possibility of "eucatastrophe", of positive salvation."3
For more thoughts on this topic, as well as the musical interpretation, you can also take a look at Alex Ross' article on The New Yorker. and Jamie McGregor's article.
Opera of the Forest
The libretto*** of Nibelungen Ring is written by Wagner himself, unlike the majority of other operas. By this mean, he expresses his own view of economy-politics and philosophy.
Although Wagner's view can not be discussed in this short essay, there are points that can be highlighted in. the context of Siegfried. In his review in the concert program booklet, Mathieu Schneider notes that the libretto, heavily reflects Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling's philosophy of the nature (Naturphilosophie). In Siegfried, nature plays an important role. The opera happens in a dark and dense, romantic German forest where Siegfried lived his childhood. "Schelling defends the idea the Nature and the Mind is made of the same essence. To the one who pierces the mysteries of nature, the mysteries of existence are also revealed. Siegfried will thus not cease to confront this nature to build his own identity and understand his origins."4
"Wagner, influenced by his reading of Arthur Schopenhauer, slightly detours from Schelling's philosophy. Indeed, he confers to the one who understands nature the power to share with it his will, or more exactly to confuse, in a gesture at the same time sublime and tragic, will and destiny. This congruence, which for Wagner can only be a utopia, has unfortunately nourished the darkest designs, from the eugenics of the pure man to the racial theories of National Socialism. Fortunately, Siegfried's final measures restore the order of the world, bringing the fearless hero back to his human condition. Pure man cannot be invincible. All this is only a myth."4
Schneider continues on the musical elements in Wagner's Ring that has changed the tonal understanding that has been dominant until the end of 19th century and led to modernism of 20th century:
"Since The Rhine Gold, one has the feeling that Wagner has turned his back on singing. If it is true that the accompanied recitative and the arioso have taken the upper hand, it is also necessary to wring the neck of these preconceived ideas according to which Wagner would make a clean sweep of the operatic tradition. Certainly, he changes the codes and forms of the genre, but he remains no less faithful to the tradition of beautiful singing (not to say bel canto, because the Italianate style is quite far from the aesthetics of the Tetralogy."4
Finally, I recommend Bayreuth Festspiele recording to listen (among the ones on YouTube), where Wagner himself designed and built for his operas to reflect his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk. His operas are continued to be performing there for the last 150 years.
Notes, Links
*Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
**Bird of the forest
***A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera.
4 . Siegfried, l'opéra de la forêt, Mathieu Schneider, Programme booklet notes, 2023.