Das Rheingold

Scene I

Three Rhine maidens swim about singing merrily as they guard the gold. The Nibelung dwarf Alberich appears and attempts to interest the maidens in his charms. They tease him by pretending to flirt with him and proceed to ridicule his appearance and his lust for them. The sun breaks out and illuminates the piece of raw gold, which lights up the dark Rhine bottom. When Alberich inquires about the gold, the maidens tell him it is their duty to guard the Rhine gold, which has a magical power. The power allows anyone who renounces love to forge it into a ring, which will grant world domination to the possessor. But the gold is presumably safe since no one would renounce love, especially not a dwarf inflamed by lust. Alberich, who has been deterred in his clumsy attempts at winning the love of the Rhine maidens, sees the chance to satisfy his desires through power. He grabs the gold, renounces love, and scurries off to forge it into the Ring.

Scene II

Fricka awakens and sees a large castle in the foreground. She wakes her husband Wotan and points out that construction of their new castle has been completed. She hopes he will settle down and cease his wandering and his infidelities. He replies that as king of the gods he must continue to increase his experience and powers and continue is wanderings. Fricka reminds Wotan of the bargain he struck with the two giants, Fasolt and Fafner, who built the castle. In return for their labor, Wotan has pledged to the giants Fricka’s sister Freia, the goddess of love. Wotan made this bargain after Loge, a god that Wotan befriended, promised to find a way out of the bargain with the giants.

Freia runs in, begging for protection from the giants who have come to claim her as their wage. Wotan tells them to name another price; surely they didn’t really expect the gods to give Freia as the payment. The giants chastise Wotan for trying to take advantage of them and point out that as the god of contracts he is especially bound to honor them. Fasolt has also fallen in love with Freia. Her brothers, Froh and Donner threaten the giants with violence, but Wotan stops them, saying there must be no violence.

As the giants prepare to take Freia away, Loge appears from a blast of fire. He reports that the castle has been inspected and is flawlessly built. Wotan demands to know whether a substitute payment has been found for the giants. Loge states that he has searched the world and found nothing that is valued more highly than a woman’s love. The only exception to this is Alberich who stole the Rhine gold, forged a Ring of power, and began amassing a fortune. Loge also states that the Rhine maidens have appealed for Wotan’s aid in restoring their gold. Wotan replies that he has his own troubles without worrying about the Rhine maidens, but he does become interested in the Ring’s power. Fricka wonders if a woman might use the Ring; Loge tells her that it would keep a husband’s attention from wandering. The giants decide they will settle for Alberich’s treasure if it is sufficient to hide Freia’s beauty. To ensure the delivery of the ring they will take her hostage and return that evening for the treasure.

As they leave, the gods’ powers begin to fade. Loge realizes that their immortality depends on the golden apples that only Freia can grow and nourish. Now there is no choice for Wotan and Loge. They will go to the dwarf’s home in Nibelheim and try to wrest the ring from Alberich to restore the gods’ power.

Scene III

Mime, Alberich’s brother, has been working on a magical Tarnhelm, at Alberich’s behest. Mime is attempting to invoke the magic of the Tarnhelm when Alberich appears. He takes the Tarnhelm, and casts a spell, which makes him invisable. He beats Mime unmercifully and goes off to terrorize the other Nibelungs into working harder and longer. Wotan and Loge walk in as Mime is moaning about his lot. Mime relates how Alberich has used the power of the Ring to enslave the Nibelungs and force them to amass him a great treasure that he will use to rule the world.

Alberich reappears with several slaves and, brandishing the Ring, sends the Nibelungs back to work. He tells the gods of his plans to master the universe through the power of the Ring. He boasts that the Tarnhelm can give him any shape he wishes. When Loge challenges him to demonstrate, Alberich transforms himself into a dragon. Loge and Wotan act impressed at the site. Then, Loge slyly asks if he can become as small as a toad, and Alberich obliges. The gods capture Alberich in this form and take him away to the mountaintop.

Scene IV

Alberich is forced to have the treasure brought up to the gods as ransom. He holds back the Ring, confident that if he keeps it he can rebuild his treasure hoard. However, when Wotan forcibly takes the Ring; Alberich lays a curse of death upon anyone who shall possess it until it is returned to him.

The giants return with Freia and demand that the hoard be measured up against her. Loge and Fasolt stack the gold up to cover Freia. Fafner spots one of Friea’s hairs and demands that the Tarnhelm be used to cover it up. When Fasolt can still see her eye though a chink in the gold, Fafner demands the Ring to fill the gap. Wotan refuses to relinquish the Ring. Suddenly a mysterious woman appears. Her name is Erda and she tells Wotan of the tragic fate impending and warns him to give up the Ring. He reluctantly throws it on the pile. Immediately the giants quarrel over how to split the treasure, and Fafner kills Fasolt over the ring. As Fafner carries off the treasure, Loge and Fricka congratulate Wotan on gaining the castle, settling with the giants and removing an enemy in the process. Wotan ponders the ill fortune that the castle has caused so far, and resolves to visit Erda again to learn more of his ensuing fate.

Donner summons a quick storm to clear the air, and Froh conjures a rainbow bridge to the castle’s entrance. Wotan leads the gods into the castle, naming it Valhalla. As they ascend, the Rhine maidens bewail their lost gold. Loge, disgusted with Wotan’s lack of compassion to the Rhine maidens, tells them to bask in the radiance of the gods instead. He is not sure he wishes to follow these gods to their fate or to burn them right now and end the cycle before it starts.