“Twilight of the Gods” at the Stuttgart State Opera: Complete – Culture

from

Egbert Tholl

At the beginning of the second act of Richard Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung” the Nibelung Alberich visits his son Hagen. He reminds him of the order to get the ring and with it all power. The ring is on Siegfried’s finger at this point, so Siegfried has to go. Now, in the new production of “Götterdämmerung” at the Stuttgart State Opera, this scene becomes a grandiose showpiece. Because Alberich is in Hagen’s head. Hagen, the overwhelming Patrick Zielke, has fallen asleep at a table in the dilapidated plenary hall, here representing the Gibichungen Hall. The beginning of the scene, the famous “Are you sleeping, Hagen, my son?” sounds like something out of a distant nightmare.

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