LE CREPUSCULE DES DIEUX – SIMON RATTLE

Casting

Co Producers and Broadcasters (TV, cinema, Video)

FRANCE 3, MEZZO, FESTIVAL D'AIX EN PROVENCE, CNC, BEL AIR MEDIA

Line producer

Nicole LARRIEU

Pr ologue
On the Valkyries rock, the Norns who weave the Rope of Destiny reminisce Wotan’s original sin. Out of ambition, he sacrificed one of his eyes to be able to drink from the source of Wisdom and then tore a branch off the World Tree, an ash tree as it stands, turned it into a spear and carved thereon his laws and treaties. Challenging Mother Nature, he disrupted the order of the Universe and started the course of time. Since then, defeated by hero Siegfried, Wotan has endeavoured to reassemble the remains of the ash tree around Valhalla and is waiting for twilight to set it ablaze? What will happen to the ring forged of old from the gold stolen from the Rhine by Alberich? At this question, the Norns’ rope breaks off. Full of fear, they take refuge under the earth. As day breaks, Brünnhilde and Siegfried emerge from their cave. She has passed on to him her Valkyrie’s wisdom and, just as he prepares to embark on new adventures, receives from him, as a token of fidelity, the ring taken from the conquered dragon.
First act
From their Palace by the Rhine River, the descendants of the lord of Gibich are beggining to worry: Gunther, the son, and Gutrun, the daughter, are still unmarried. Their half-brother Hagen, son of Alberich, is plotting to avenge Nibelung against Wotan. He advises them to marry Brünnhilde and Siegfried respectively, the latters’ mutual love he has kept undisclosed. Precisely at this moment, the hero moors by the palace after sailing down the Rhine River. He gets a warm welcome. He is unwittingly given to drink a potion to forget Brünnhilde and immediately falls in love with Gutrune. To obtain her hand from Gunther, he offers the latter to go and conquer Brünnhilde, by taking on the guise of Gunther thanks to his magic helm. They swear blood-brotherhood and no sooner embark for the Valkyries rock. Meanwhile, Brünnhilde is visited by her Valkyrie sister Waltraute. The Gods’ end is nearing and Wotan has revealed that only by handing back the Ring to the Rhine would they stand a chance of being saved. Refusing to relinquish Siegfried’s token of love, Brünnhilde dismisses the messenger. Siegfried then emerges in the appearance of a conquering Gunther. She cannot resist him and in the wrangle loses the ring to him.
Second act
Now in the Hall of the Gibichungen, Alberich has come to urge Hagen to retrieve the Ring, whose powers Siegfried is not aware of. When the hero appears, Gutrune welcomes him with love while Hagen and Gunther’s men give their lord and the Valkyrie a solemn welcoming.
At the sight of Siegfried hand in hand with Gutrune, and what’s more still wearing the Ring, Brünnhilde realises she has been betrayed. She reveals that Siegfried is her husband. The latter swears on Hagen’s spear that he hasn’t touched her while she calls on the same spear to avenge her of this outrage. The wedding party begins. Hagen offers to help a downcast Gunther and Brünnhilde. The Valkyrie tells him that the hero’s weak spot is his back.
Third act
On the riverbank, the Rhinemaidens are seeking in vain to get the Ring back from Siegfried. Even after they have told him about the ring’s curse, he chooses to keep this token of love. The wedding‘s hunting party appears. In order to cheer up Gunther, Siegfried tells the hunters about the adventures of his youth. The mention of his first feats conjures up memories of his first encounters with Brünnhilde. Hagen takes advantage of Gunther’s amazement to kill Siegfried. As he dies, the hero recovers his memory and summons Brünnhilde with love.
His body is taken back to the palace. Hagen wants the ring back but Gunther rebukes him in the name of his sister. Hagen kills him but then the dead man suddenly raises his threatening arm. Brünnhilde discloses the secret link she had with Siegfried. She orders for a funeral pyre to be assembled for his body, invokes the responsibility of the Gods, puts the ring on her finger and, before she rides into the flames, she asks the Rhinemaidens to put out the fire and reclaim from her ashes the gold thus purified. The Rhine River overflows and drowns Hagen, and then everything calms down while the flames flare up, bringing the curtain down on the Twilight of the Gods.
© Agnès Terrier, traduction Christopher Jacq

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