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Prologue
The opening scene begins in near-darkness and is heavy in symbolism. It opens on the Valkyries' rock, where the three Norns (offspring of Erda) weave a rope of knowledge representing a physical time-line. But the time-line becomes unstable and they are powerless to prevent the rope breaking – the link between past and present is irrevocably destroyed. Siegfried and Brünnhilde emerge into morning light; fortified by the strength of their love, and protected by Brünnhilde's magic, Siegfreid goes forth into the world to seek new adventures.

Brünnhilde's immolation scene. The Gods are destroyed. The Rhine floods the stage and the Rhinemaidens finally reclaim the ring. Photo © ROH 2018 by Bill Cooper

Act 1
Siegfried's Rhine journey brings him to the Gibichung Hall, where Gunther and his sister Gutrune rule. Also at court is Hagen, their half-sibling and illegitimate son of the Nibelung dwarf Alberich. Hagen is plotting to recover the ring and suggests that Gunther should consolidate his power by marrying Brunnhilde, while Gutrune marries Siegfried. Hagen provides Gutrune with a drug which will make Siegfried forget other women. The trick works, and Siegfried is enraptured enough of Gutrune to try to win Brünnhilde for her brother Gunther. Meanwhile, Brünnhilde's Valkyrie sister Waltraute visits her, bringing a request from Wotan that the ring should be returned to the Rhinemaidens, in order to lift the curse over the gods; Brünnhilde refuses to give up the ring, and the fate of the gods is sealed. There is a disturbance in the magic fire, and Siegfried returns, using the Tarnhelm to deceive Brünnhilde into thinking he is Gunther. He will bring Brünnhilde to the Gibichung Hall, by force.

Act 2
Alberich appears to the sleeping Hagen, reminding him of their pledge to destroy Siegfried and recover the ring. Siegfried arrives ahead of Gunther and Brünnhilde. In the only chorus scene in the Ring operas, Hagen summons his vassals with a call to armed battle; to their confusion, the summons is instead to welcome the wedding party. Brünnhilde is abject and humiliated, but the sight of the ring on Siegfried's finger reveals the deception and enrages her. Siegfried swears on Hagen's spear that it may pierce his body if he lies about his identity. But Brünnhilde tells Hagen that her magic does not protect Siegfried's back as he would never turn and flee an enemy. With Hagen and Gunther plotting against Siegfried, with Brünnhilde's unwitting collusion, Siegfried is doomed; to spare Gutrune's feelings, his death will be contrived as part of a hunting accident. The Act concludes with the hollow anticipation of a doomed double-wedding.

Act 3
In the forest, Siegfried meets the Rhinemaidens who warn that he will die that day if he does not return the ring. He dismisses them and returns to the hunting party, regaling them with stories of his adventures. Hagen arranges for him to drink an antidote to the drug which has made him forget Brunnhilde, and the truth of his relationship with her is revealed. This is Hagen's excuse to kill Siegfried, which he does by tricking him into turning his back. Siegfried's body is conveyed to the Gibichung Hall in a solemn funeral march. Hagen kills Gunther in a fight over the ring, but the dead Siegfried's arm rises to prevent him taking it.

The re-enlightened Brünnhilde takes command of the situation and finds a way to expiate the crimes which started when Alberich stole the Rhinegold. She commands Siegfried's body to be cremated on a funeral pyre; she rides her horse Grane into the fire to relieve the curse and join her husband in death. The waters of the Rhine overwhelm the Gibichung Hall; Hagen makes a desperate attempt to salvage the ring, but is swept away; the Rhinemaidens finally claim the ring. The gods are glimpsed, assembled in Valhalla as the flames engulf them too. The Ring of the Nibelung concludes with the soaring Redemption theme, only previously heard in Die Walküre.

© Graeme Kay/³ÉÈËÂÛ̳