Götterdämmerung: Immolation Scene

Program notes

About the Work

The Immolation Scene is the tremendous final scene of Götterdämmerung, and so the climax of this opera and of the entire fifteen-hour Ring cycle, the moment toward which everything has been building. Brünnhilde, now understanding the whole tragic story of the cursed ring and Siegfried’s betrayal, takes command. She orders a huge funeral pyre built for the dead Siegfried, reclaims the ring (which will be cleansed by fire and returned to the Rhinemaidens), bids a moving farewell, and then rides her horse Grane into the flames to join her beloved in death. As she does so, the fire spreads: Valhalla and the gods are consumed, the Rhine overflows, the Rhinemaidens reclaim their gold, and a corrupt old order is swept away so that a new, redeemed world may begin. It is one of the most overwhelming and cathartic conclusions in all of opera: a vast scena for dramatic soprano and huge orchestra.

What to Listen For

Listen for the journey from grief and solemnity to transcendence. Brünnhilde’s farewell begins gravely; listen for the great soprano line riding over the orchestra as she addresses the dead Siegfried, the gods and the Rhine. Listen for the procession of leitmotifs that Wagner gathers up here: themes of the ring, the curse, the gods, Siegfried, and, crucially, the soaring melody often called the ‘Redemption’ theme, which will have the very last word.

Listen for the great orchestral conflagration as Brünnhilde leaps into the flames: the ‘Magic Fire’ music blazing up, the ‘Rhine’ music swelling as the river rises, the crashing collapse of Valhalla (the ‘Valhalla’ theme overwhelmed). And listen, finally, for the extraordinary closing pages, where, out of all the destruction, the orchestra rises to a hushed, glowing statement of the redemptive theme, sublime and consoling, bringing the entire cycle to rest. Anja Kampe sings Brünnhilde; this is one of the supreme challenges and glories of the dramatic-soprano repertoire, and an overwhelming close to the concert.