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jallanite · 05-20-2012, 01:46 PM

Götterdämmerung: Review

Introduction

This film is of course, mostly superb. Its the conclusion of Wagner’s Ring Cycle and, as such, one of the most praised pieces in the history of opera.

So perhaps it might be more interesting to instead try to find everything that might possibly be wrong with it.

Opera

First, why an opera? An opera limits one to (mostly) fat singers orating in a most artificial music style. In most adaptations of traditional stories, one must cast out or downplay what is most effective in the originals. Surely if a musical drama is even considered desirable, then one more in tune with the surviving originals would be more suitable.

Opera today is supported not by any mass audience but by public funds and private donations by extremely wealthy individuals and by large corporations.

Story

The centre of the medieval story is the fall of the Nibelungs in which Gunther and Hagen are deceived into going to what purports to be just a friendly party at the court of Attila the Hun. But the fix is in! Hagen, realizing they have stepped into a death trap, begins matters in his traditional way by openly murdering his and Gunther’s nephew at the banquet. In the end almost everyone on both sides is killed.

But Wagner, after telling his version of the events leading up to the main course, untraditionally kills off Gunther and Hagen quickly, leaving out the main story altogether. It is as bad as Shakespeare leaving out the second part of the story of Hamlet (including Hamlet’s Scottish wife), Shakespeare giving a tragic ending to the story of King Lear, and as bad as the recent Hollywood films First Knight and King Arthur which ignore the genuine medieval stories for mediocre modern invention.

It is very little better than leaving out Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire from Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films.

Even taking only Götterdämerung into consideration, and allowing that some simplification is justified, what point in Wagner messing up in his presentation of the quarrel over the Ring? In all surviving medieval accounts that present this quarrel, Siegfried has given the Ring to his wife and she flaunts the Ring openly to Brünnhilde in a quarrel over precedence to show that her husband, not Gunther, had actually won Brünnhilde and that after taking the Ring from Brünnehilde as spoils, Siegfried had bestowed the Ring on her, his true love and wife. Wagner, unlike his sources, makes the quarrel over the Ring be directly between Siegfried and Brünnhilde.

Brünnhilde’s fiery suicide on Siegfried’s pyre of which Wagner makes so much is mentioned in the sources only in the Norse Lesser Lay of Sigurð and in the Norse Vǫlsungassaga. It may well be a late and unessential addition to the story. In the Þiðreks saga and in the Nibelungenlied Brünnhild/Brynhildr is last mentioned viciously and joyfully exalting over the corpse of Siegfried/Sigurð who had betrayed her and then is never referred to again.

Wagner does not integrate all his sources well and does not integrate them with his his own interpretation of the Ring as a ring of supreme power. Why does Wagner’s Brünnhilde remain on her rock and not accompany Siegfried out into the world? Wagner’s Brünnhilde knows about the Ring and its power but says nothing of it to Siegfried. Exactly how does the Ring passing through fire dissolve Alberich’s curse? Alberich had simply taken the Rhine gold by force from the Rhine maidens. Why cannot he or anyone willing to forswear love / carnal lust simply do so again? How does Alberich’s forswearing of love / carnal lust agree with Alberich’s fathering Hagen on Grimhild, King Gibich’s wife? At the end the return of the Ring to the Rhine apparently undoes the forging of the Ring and sets everything back to the beginning, so why do Wotan and the gods perish. Valtrauta earlier strongly implied that if only Brünnhilde had cast the Ring into the Rhine before the complications began that everything would be all right for the gods.

Presentation

Grane, Siegfried’s horse, is represented by a life size puppet, but not a realistic one as in the dramatic production of The War Horse. (See http://www.mirvish.com/shows/warhorse .) Instead it appears as a puppet of the plate steel armour apparently worn by the horse. Is Grane supposed to be invisible when he isn’t wearing his plate armour?

Fortunately Grane doesn’t sing.

Siegfried continues to breathe when supposedly dead. That’s a difficulty that arises when the camera provides a closer view than one would normally get in the theatre.

The chorus of courtiers take both Siegfried’s death and Gunther’s death rather casually. They seem to know they are in an opera and are taking the opportunity to enjoy the music without raising any fuss.

Some might claim that anti-racist political correction has been taken too far. Some of Gunther’s courtiers are of Asian origin. That can be explained however. Historically the Huns were of Asian origin, not of Germanic origin, and contemporary descriptions indicate their Asian appearance. It is likely enough that the historical Burgundian kingdom included some Huns among their warriors. A dark-skinned maiden at court is more difficult to explain but not impossible. See http://evoandproud.blogspot.ca/2010/...n-britain.html . What is true of Britain would presumably be true of other parts of what was once the Roman empire.

I Take It All Back (Mostly)

Despite my qualms, Wagner’s Ring Cycle has since its first appearance in full in 1876 been recognized by enough people as a superb musical work that it must be so accepted. That my complaints are mostly valid just don’t matter. The naysayers are often people who claim not to like any opera. There are a smaller group of people who like opera in general but do not like Wagner and the reverse is true.

Most of those who very much like Wagner quite recognize most of my complaints, but just don’t care. For them, the work transcends any criticism, however valid that criticism might be.

05-20-2012, 01:46 PM	#12
jallanite Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 479	Götterdämmerung: Review Introduction This film is of course, mostly superb. Its the conclusion of Wagner’s Ring Cycle and, as such, one of the most praised pieces in the history of opera. So perhaps it might be more interesting to instead try to find everything that might possibly be wrong with it. Opera First, why an opera? An opera limits one to (mostly) fat singers orating in a most artificial music style. In most adaptations of traditional stories, one must cast out or downplay what is most effective in the originals. Surely if a musical drama is even considered desirable, then one more in tune with the surviving originals would be more suitable. Opera today is supported not by any mass audience but by public funds and private donations by extremely wealthy individuals and by large corporations. Story The centre of the medieval story is the fall of the Nibelungs in which Gunther and Hagen are deceived into going to what purports to be just a friendly party at the court of Attila the Hun. But the fix is in! Hagen, realizing they have stepped into a death trap, begins matters in his traditional way by openly murdering his and Gunther’s nephew at the banquet. In the end almost everyone on both sides is killed. But Wagner, after telling his version of the events leading up to the main course, untraditionally kills off Gunther and Hagen quickly, leaving out the main story altogether. It is as bad as Shakespeare leaving out the second part of the story of Hamlet (including Hamlet’s Scottish wife), Shakespeare giving a tragic ending to the story of King Lear, and as bad as the recent Hollywood films First Knight and King Arthur which ignore the genuine medieval stories for mediocre modern invention. It is very little better than leaving out Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire from Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. Even taking only Götterdämerung into consideration, and allowing that some simplification is justified, what point in Wagner messing up in his presentation of the quarrel over the Ring? In all surviving medieval accounts that present this quarrel, Siegfried has given the Ring to his wife and she flaunts the Ring openly to Brünnhilde in a quarrel over precedence to show that her husband, not Gunther, had actually won Brünnhilde and that after taking the Ring from Brünnehilde as spoils, Siegfried had bestowed the Ring on her, his true love and wife. Wagner, unlike his sources, makes the quarrel over the Ring be directly between Siegfried and Brünnhilde. Brünnhilde’s fiery suicide on Siegfried’s pyre of which Wagner makes so much is mentioned in the sources only in the Norse Lesser Lay of Sigurð and in the Norse Vǫlsungassaga. It may well be a late and unessential addition to the story. In the Þiðreks saga and in the Nibelungenlied Brünnhild/Brynhildr is last mentioned viciously and joyfully exalting over the corpse of Siegfried/Sigurð who had betrayed her and then is never referred to again. Wagner does not integrate all his sources well and does not integrate them with his his own interpretation of the Ring as a ring of supreme power. Why does Wagner’s Brünnhilde remain on her rock and not accompany Siegfried out into the world? Wagner’s Brünnhilde knows about the Ring and its power but says nothing of it to Siegfried. Exactly how does the Ring passing through fire dissolve Alberich’s curse? Alberich had simply taken the Rhine gold by force from the Rhine maidens. Why cannot he or anyone willing to forswear love / carnal lust simply do so again? How does Alberich’s forswearing of love / carnal lust agree with Alberich’s fathering Hagen on Grimhild, King Gibich’s wife? At the end the return of the Ring to the Rhine apparently undoes the forging of the Ring and sets everything back to the beginning, so why do Wotan and the gods perish. Valtrauta earlier strongly implied that if only Brünnhilde had cast the Ring into the Rhine before the complications began that everything would be all right for the gods. Presentation Grane, Siegfried’s horse, is represented by a life size puppet, but not a realistic one as in the dramatic production of The War Horse. (See http://www.mirvish.com/shows/warhorse .) Instead it appears as a puppet of the plate steel armour apparently worn by the horse. Is Grane supposed to be invisible when he isn’t wearing his plate armour? Fortunately Grane doesn’t sing. Siegfried continues to breathe when supposedly dead. That’s a difficulty that arises when the camera provides a closer view than one would normally get in the theatre. The chorus of courtiers take both Siegfried’s death and Gunther’s death rather casually. They seem to know they are in an opera and are taking the opportunity to enjoy the music without raising any fuss. Some might claim that anti-racist political correction has been taken too far. Some of Gunther’s courtiers are of Asian origin. That can be explained however. Historically the Huns were of Asian origin, not of Germanic origin, and contemporary descriptions indicate their Asian appearance. It is likely enough that the historical Burgundian kingdom included some Huns among their warriors. A dark-skinned maiden at court is more difficult to explain but not impossible. See http://evoandproud.blogspot.ca/2010/...n-britain.html . What is true of Britain would presumably be true of other parts of what was once the Roman empire. I Take It All Back (Mostly) Despite my qualms, Wagner’s Ring Cycle has since its first appearance in full in 1876 been recognized by enough people as a superb musical work that it must be so accepted. That my complaints are mostly valid just don’t matter. The naysayers are often people who claim not to like any opera. There are a smaller group of people who like opera in general but do not like Wagner and the reverse is true. Most of those who very much like Wagner quite recognize most of my complaints, but just don’t care. For them, the work transcends any criticism, however valid that criticism might be.