Opera Guide and Synopsis: Siegfried, by Richard Wagner

Siegfried is the third opera of Richard Wagner's (Der Ring des Niebelungen). The libretto was written in 1851. Wagner had begun his writing of the libretti with the Ring Cycle's final opera, Götterdämmerung; Siegfried was his first attempt to fill out that opera's backstory by examining the events of Siegfried's youth. Although the first two operas of the cycle were performed separately against Wagner's wishes, Siegfried premiered as part of the complete Ring Cycle at Bayreuth on August 16, 1876.

Characters in Siegfried

• Siegfried, son of Siegmund and Sieglinde (Tenor)
• Mime, his guardian (Tenor)
• The Wanderer (Wotan), king of the gods in mortal disguise (Bass-baritone)
• Alberich, a Niebelung (Baritone)
• Fafner, a giant turned dragon (Bass)
• Erda, the earth goddess (Contralto)
• Brünnhilde, the chief of the Valkyrie (Soprano)
• The Bird (Soprano)

Backstory to Siegfried

Between the end of Die Walkürie and the beginning of Siegfried, Sieglinde, Wotan's daughter with a mortal woman, has given birth to Siegfried, her son by her twin brother, Siegmund. Siegfried was raised by Mime, Alberich's brother, after Sieglinde died in childbirth. Fafner, the giant who received the Rheingold from the gods, has turned into a dragon and guards his gold. Mime, too weak to kill Fafner and recover the gold himself, wishes to train Siegfried to slay the dragon.

Synopsis of Siegfried

Act I

Mime works in his smithy. Siegfried returns with a bear to frighten Mime. He takes the sword Mime has made for him and shatters it. Siegfried demands to learn about his real parents, and Mime reveals that he found Siegfried's mother Sieglinde dying. Sieglinde gave him a broken sword, Nothung, which Siegfried's father had wielded in battle. Siegfried demands that Mime reforge the sword so that he can go off on his own.

The Wanderer (Wotan) wagers with Mime, offering to give up his head if he cannot answer three questions. Mime asks him three simple questions about the different races of beings. When the tables are turned, Mime cannot answer the Wanderer's final question: "Who can reforge the sword?" The answer, Wotan says, is that only a fearless person can reforge it, and that Mime's head is forfeit to that person. Siegfried returns and successfully reforges the sword.

Act II

Alberich waits outside Fafner's cave. He is unable to kill the dragon himself, but plans to kill whomever can take the ring from Fafner so he can steal the ring back for himself. Alberich warns Wotan that his oath prevents him from helping recover the ring from Fafner, but Wotan says that a hero has arisen who can take the ring back by his own power. Alberich warns Fafner that someone is coming for the ring and offers to take it away so that Fafner might live, but the dragon goes back to sleep.

Siegfried arrives and kills the dragon. He accidentally gets the dragon's blood on his mouth and is suddenly able to understand the language of birds. A bird tells him to take the dragon's powerful treasures, the ring and the Tarnhelm (the magic helmet).

Able to read Mime's mind and know that Mime is trying to poison him and steal the ring, Siegfried kills his guardian. The bird tells Siegfried of Brünnhilde, a beautiful woman in enchanted sleep, and Siegfried decides to rescue her.

Act III

Wotan goes to Erda for advice on the coming Twilight of the Gods. He concludes that Siegfried, knowing no fear, will be immune to Alberich's curse and will be able to redeem the world.

Siegfried arrives and faces Wotan, telling him how he forged the sword and killed the dragon. When Wotan tries to prevent him from rescuing Brünnhilde, Siegfried shatters Wotan's spear with Nothung. He goes through the fire and awakens Brünnhilde. She tells him of his history and how she cared for him before he was born.