How long does Das Rheingold take?

2 ½ hours
Das Rheingold is an opera in one act, divided into four scenes. It is a very long act, lasting 2 ½ hours, but it is normally played without an interval as the music is continuous, even between the scenes. The characters in the opera are Gods, Giants, Nibelungs and the Rhinedaughters. The Nibelungs are a race of dwarfs.

Who is Siegmunds mother?

Their father is Wotan, the chief god, but they don’t know this either. Their mother was a mortal (an ordinary person, not a goddess) or perhaps a she-wolf, which is how the goddess Fricka refers to her. Sieglinde lets Siegmund into the house and gives him a drink of mead.

Where was the opera Das Rheingold first performed?

Das Rheingold ( pronunciation (help·info); The Rhinegold ), WWV 86A, is the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner ‘s Der Ring des Nibelungen, (English: The Ring of the Nibelung ). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on 22 September 1869,…

Who are the three Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold?

At the bottom of the Rhine, the three Rhinemaidens, Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Floßhilde, play together. Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, appears from a deep chasm and tries to woo them. The maidens mock his advances and he grows angry – he chases them, but they elude, tease and humiliate him.

What did the Giants do to Freia in Das Rheingold?

Fafner makes a counter-offer: the giants will accept the Nibelung’s treasure in payment, instead of Freia. When Wotan tries to haggle, the giants depart, taking Freia with them as hostage and threatening to keep her forever unless the gods ransom her by obtaining and giving them the Nibelung’s gold by the end of the day.

What is the preliminary evening in Das Rheingold?

As the “preliminary evening” within the cycle, Das Rheingold gives the background to the events that drive the main dramas of the cycle.