Wagner: Götterdämmerung

The final part of the tetralogy sees yet another broadening of the horizon. Siegfried sallies forth “to new glories”, encountering people driven by a desire for power and riches and unscrupulous in their determination to acquire them. Without Bru¨nnhilde on hand to help him, the hero succumbs to a conspiracy at the Gibichung hall, also triggering the beginning of the end of the old world, still beset by the curse placed by Alberich on the ring, which bestows boundless power on its bearer. With Bru¨nnhilde realising what has happened, she sees self-sacrifice as the only path to redemption: by eradicating herself through immolation and returning the stolen gold to the Rhine, she will be clearing the way for a new beginning for all.