Hearken to the cosmic, elemental opening of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, and it’s possible you’ll be reminded of up to date music, from the atmospheric soundscapes of John Luther Adams, to the minimalist arpeggios of Philip Glass.
Starting as a low rumble within the depths of the orchestra, the Prelude to Das Rheingold incorporates a pure E-flat main chord which continues for over 4 minutes. It’s an epic celebration of the everlasting movement of the Rhine River, and the artistic pressure of nature. Wagner claimed that the music got here to him in a dream:
The push and roar quickly took musical form inside my mind because the chord of E-flat main, surging incessantly in damaged chords: These declared themselves as melodic figurations of accelerating movement, but the pure triad of E-flat main by no means modified. … I awoke from my half-sleep in terror, feeling as if the waves have been now dashing excessive above my head.
Composed in 1854, Das Rheingold is the primary opera in Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle. It begins at nighttime, watery realm of the mythic Rhinemaidens, and strikes upwards to the land of gods and giants. A hoop, solid from the magic Rhinegold and coveted by Wotan, results in curses, treachery, and enslavement. Within the opera’s ultimate scene, the Rhinemaidens lament the lack of their gold, whereas the gods cross a “Rainbow Bridge” to their new residence, Valhalla, strolling to their eventual doom.
Within the ultimate moments, amid a flood of leitmotifs, the primordial music of the opening prelude stays as a strong undercurrent.
Listed below are two basic performances:
Metropolitan Opera, James Levine (1990)
The solid contains James Morris (Wotan) Siegfried Jerusalem (Loge), and Christa Ludwig (Fricka).
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti (Dwell Broadcast from Symphony Corridor in April of 1983)
The solid is listed within the closing credit. A couple of weeks later, the efficiency was repeated to great acclaim at Carnegie Corridor.
Recordings
- Wagner: Das Rheingold, James Levine, 1990 Metropolitan Opera Manufacturing Amazon
Featured Picture: “design for the 1878 staging of “Das Rheingold” by Richard Wagner,” Hermann Burghart
