Vienna State Opera tickets 8 June 2025 - Siegfried | GoComGo.com

Siegfried

Vienna State Opera, Main Stage, Vienna, Austria
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7 PM
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US$ 125

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Vienna, Austria
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 2
Duration: 5h 25min

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Tenor: Andreas Schager (Siegfried)
Soprano: Anja Kampe (Brünnhilde)
Bass: Iain Paterson (The Wanderer)
Baritone: Jochen Schmeckenbecher (Alberich)
Creators
Composer: Richard Wagner
Costume designer: Marianne Glittenberg
Video designer: Momme Hinrichs
Librettist: Richard Wagner
Sets: Rolf Glittenberg
Director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf
Video designer: Torge Möller
Overview

"Siegfried - this human being must overshadow the gods' splendour!", Richard Wagner enthusiastically wrote about his creation - the young and strong hero, who is raised by the dwarf Mime. Siegfried becomes the central character in last two parts of the Ring Cycle: in the music drama of the same name he forges his sword Notung, gains the Nibelung's treasure and meets Wotan's daughter Brünnhilde, whom he falls in love with.

The production of the Ring tetralogy at the Vienna State Opera is by Sven-Eric Bechtolf, who has created a series of directorial works at the Haus am Ring. Wrapped in a timelessness, he tells the Ring story as a model of the world, whereby the director does not want to set any concrete contemporary political or social interpretations: "If one refrains from beautiful blue-eyedness and refrains from moving smoothly from A to B, the Ring is worldly even without a "message". Despite or through abstraction. Rich in conflict, not stringent. Completely contradictory, but effective. In my eyes, it touches on the big questions and issues of our existence in a richly associative way, without having answered anything or held out the prospect of anything."

"The inexperienced, unskilled music lover may approach Wagner fearlessly, for there can be no misunderstanding between them: the music of the Ring is quite simple and uncomplicated." (George Bernard Shaw) 

"Siegfried: this is also the utopia of the reconciliation of nature and man, this is power and sensuality turned into music, this is an emphatic commitment to that blossoming, redeeming love that Wagner had already found described by Ludwig Feuerbach. However, Wagner, not least under the influence of his reading of Schopenhauer, subjects the bright fairy-tale figure to the inexorable laws of a myth of doom. The work of redemption originally intended for Siegfried must fail; the abolition of man's alienation from nature, also invoked by Karl Marx, is not based on love, but on doom." (Konrad Paul Liessmann)

Short Summary
Siegfried, the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, grows up in the forest with Mime, the blacksmith. He has never learned to fear. So he manages to forge the sword Notung and use it to kill the dragon Fafner. He wins the Ring of the Nibelung and is led by the forest bird to Brünnhilde, who has been put to sleep by the god Wotan. Siegfried awakens Brünnhilde and they both fall in love with each other.

History
Premiere of this production: 16 August 1876, Bayreuth Festspielhaus

Siegfried is the third of the four music dramas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. It premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle.

Synopsis

Act 1

Siegfried was brought up by Mime, the blacksmith, in the forest. Mime forges a sword for the unruly boy, but cannot please him – the boy shatters the sword. Mime’s world is altogether too restrictive for him. He asks about his parents, and Mime finally tells him about his mother, who died while giving birth to Siegfried, and shows him the broken sword that his father carried to his last battle. Sigfried demands that Mime weld the pieces into a better weapon and runs back into the forest. Wotan appears on the scene, dishuised as a wanderer. He plays a guessing-game with Mime, but Mime loses the wager – and his head, to the man who knows no fear. The stranger goes on to reveal that one man alone can weld the fragments of the sword: That man is Siegfried. However, Mime tries to persuade Siegfried that he is missing something by knowing know fear – Siegfried is evidently confusing it with love, of which he has a vague presentiment. Mime promises that Siegfried will learn fear in battle with the dragon Fafner, the former giant. The dragon guards the treasure of the Nibelungs that Mime plans to secure for himself through Siegfried. Siegfried, who has no respect for craftsmanship, forges the sword at his first attempt. Meanwhile Mime brews a potion with which he plans to kill Siegfried, once the latter has slain the dragon. 

Act 2

Mime’s brother Alberich is guarding the entrance to the dragon’s cave when he comes across the wanderer. He recognizes him and senses danger. However, Wotan calms him: he does not want the treasure and ring himself, but Mime will try to seize it with the help of a young hero. Wotan and Alberich leave the scene. In the grey morning light, Mime leads Siegfried to the cave and leaves him there. A woodland bird catches Siegfried’s attention. He answers the bird first on a flure he carved himself and then on his horn, at the sound of which the dragon emerges from its cave. After a brief fight, Siegfried plunges the sword into its heart, and the dying Fafner warns him anout the ring. As soon as the dragon’s blood touches his lips, Siegfreid starts to understand the bird’s song. He learns of the ring, the treasure and the helmet, and he sees through Mime’s fawning: when Mime offers him the poisoned potion, he slays him. He then follows the woodland bird, who tells him of the rock of the Valkyries. 

Act 3

The wanderer wakens Erda: he wants to relinquish his might to the young Siegfried, whose innocence is weakening Alberich’s curse. Siegfried enters and treats the old man no kindlier than Mime. He strikes the spear that once shattered his father’s sword out of the wanderer’s hand and clears his way to the rock. There he finds the sleeping Brünnhilde. The couple awake to their love for each other. 

Act 1

Scene 1
A cave in rocks in the forest. An orchestral introduction includes references to leitmotifs including themes relating to the original hoard plundered by the Nibelung Alberich, and one in B-flat minor associated with the Nibelungs themselves. As the curtain rises, Alberich's brother, the dwarf Mime, is forging a sword. Mime is plotting to obtain the ring of power originally created by his brother Alberich. He has raised the human boy Siegfried as a foster child, to kill Fafner, who obtained the ring and other treasures in the opera Das Rheingold and has since transformed himself from a giant to a dragon. Mime needs a sword for Siegfried to use, but the youth has contemptuously broken every sword Mime has made. Siegfried returns from his wanderings in the forest with a wild bear in tow, and immediately breaks the new sword. After a whining speech by Mime about ingratitude, and how Mime has brought him up from a mewling infant ("Als zullendes Kind"), Siegfried senses why he keeps coming back to Mime although he despises him: he wants to know his parentage. Mime is forced to explain that he encountered Siegfried's mother, Sieglinde when she was in labor; she died giving birth to Siegfried. He shows Siegfried the broken pieces of the sword Nothung, which she had left in his custody. Siegfried orders him to reforge the sword; Mime, however, is unable to accomplish this. Siegfried departs, leaving Mime in despair.

Scene 2
An old man (Wotan in disguise) arrives at the door and introduces himself as the Wanderer. In return for the hospitality due a guest, he wagers his head on answering any three questions Mime may ask. The dwarf asks the Wanderer to name the races that live beneath the ground, on the earth, and in the skies. These are the Nibelung, the Giants, and the Gods, as the Wanderer answers correctly. The Wanderer then induces Mime to wager his own head on three further riddles: the race most beloved of Wotan, but most harshly treated; the name of the sword that can destroy Fafner; and the person who can repair the sword. Mime answers the first two questions: the Wälsungs (Siegmund and Sieglinde whose tale is told in the opera Die Walküre) and the sword Nothung. Mime has no problem with the first two questions, but cannot answer the last one. Wotan spares Mime, telling him that only "he who does not know fear" can reforge Nothung, and leaves Mime's head forfeit to that person.

Scene 3
Mime despairs as he imagines the ferocity of the dragon Fafner, while "the orchestra paints a dazzling picture of flickering lights and roaring flames". Siegfried returns and is annoyed by Mime's lack of progress. Mime realizes that Siegfried is "the one who does not know fear" and that unless he can instill fear in him, Siegfried will kill him as the Wanderer foretold. He tells Siegfried that fear is an essential craft; Siegfried is eager to learn it, and Mime promises to teach him by taking him to Fafner. Since Mime was unable to forge Nothung, Siegfried decides to do it himself. He succeeds by shredding the metal, melting it, and casting it anew. In the meantime, Mime brews a poisoned drink to offer Siegfried after the youth has defeated the dragon. After he finishes forging the sword, Siegfried demonstrates its strength by chopping the anvil in half with it.

Act 2

Scene 1
Deep in the forest. The Wanderer arrives at the entrance to Fafner's cave, where Alberich is keeping vigil. The two enemies recognize each other. Alberich boasts of his plans to regain the ring and rule the world. Wotan states that he does not intend to interfere, only to observe. He even offers to awaken the dragon so that Alberich can bargain with him. Alberich warns the dragon that a hero is coming to kill him, and offers to prevent the fight in exchange for the ring. Fafner dismisses the threat, declines Alberich's offer, and returns to sleep. Wotan leaves and Alberich withdraws, muttering threats.

Scene 2
At daybreak, Siegfried and Mime arrive. After assuring Siegfried that the dragon will teach him what fear is, Mime withdraws. As Siegfried waits for the dragon to appear, he hears a woodbird singing. He attempts to mimic the bird's song using a reed pipe, but is unsuccessful. He then plays a tune on his horn, which brings Fafner out of his cave. After a short exchange, they fight; Siegfried stabs Fafner in the heart with Nothung. In his last moments, Fafner learns Siegfried's name, and tells him to beware of treachery. When Siegfried withdraws his sword from Fafner's body, his hands are burned by the dragon's blood and he puts his finger in his mouth. On tasting the blood, he finds that he can understand the woodbird's song. Following its instructions, he takes the ring and the magic helmet Tarnhelm from Fafner's hoard.

Scene 3
Outside the cave, Alberich and Mime quarrel over the treasure. Alberich hides as Siegfried comes out of the cave. Siegfried complains to Mime that he has still not learned the meaning of fear. Mime offers him the poisoned drink; however, the magic power of the dragon's blood allows Siegfried to read Mime's treacherous thoughts, and he stabs him to death. He throws Mime's body into the treasure cave and places Fafner's body in the cave entrance to block it. The woodbird now sings of a woman sleeping on a rock surrounded by magic fire. Siegfried, wondering if he can learn fear from this woman, follows the bird towards the rock.

Act 3

Scene 1
At the foot of Brünnhilde's rock. The Wanderer summons Erda, the earth goddess. Erda, appearing confused, is unable to offer any advice. Wotan informs her that he no longer fears the end of the gods; indeed, it is his desire. His heritage will be left to Siegfried the Wälsung, and Brünnhilde (Erda's and Wotan's child), who will "work the deed that redeems the World." Dismissed, Erda sinks back into the earth.

Scene 2
Siegfried arrives, and the Wanderer questions the youth. Siegfried, who does not recognize his grandfather, answers insolently and starts down the path toward Brünnhilde's rock. The Wanderer blocks his path, but Siegfried mocks him, laughing at his floppy hat and his missing eye, and breaks his spear (the symbol of Wotan's authority) with a blow from Nothung. Wotan calmly gathers up the pieces and vanishes.

Scene 3
Siegfried passes through the ring of fire, emerging on Brünnhilde's rock. At first, he thinks the sleeping armored figure is a man. However, when he removes the armor, he finds a woman beneath. At the sight of the first woman he has ever seen, Siegfried at last experiences fear. In desperation, he kisses Brünnhilde, waking her from her magic sleep. Hesitant at first, Brünnhilde is won over by Siegfried's love, and renounces the world of the gods. Together, they hail "light-bringing love, and laughing death."

Venue Info

Vienna State Opera - Vienna
Location   Opernring 2

The Vienna State Opera is one of the leading opera houses in the world. Its past is steeped in tradition. Its present is alive with richly varied performances and events. Each season, the schedule features 350 performances of more than 60 different operas and ballets. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. The building is also the home of the Vienna State Ballet, and it hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.

The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" (Wiener Hofoper) in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the Vienna Court Opera, the original construction site chosen and paid for by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.

The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.

Gustav Mahler was one of the many conductors who have worked in Vienna. During his tenure (1897–1907), Mahler cultivated a new generation of singers, such as Anna Bahr-Mildenburg and Selma Kurz, and recruited a stage designer who replaced the lavish historical stage decors with sparse stage scenery corresponding to modernistic, Jugendstil tastes. Mahler also introduced the practice of dimming the lighting in the theatre during performances, which was initially not appreciated by the audience. However, Mahler's reforms were maintained by his successors.

Herbert von Karajan introduced the practice of performing operas exclusively in their original language instead of being translated into German. He also strengthened the ensemble and regular principal singers and introduced the policy of predominantly engaging guest singers. He began a collaboration with La Scala in Milan, in which both productions and orchestrations were shared. This created an opening for the prominent members of the Viennese ensemble to appear in Milan, especially to perform works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss.

Ballet companies merge

At the beginning of the 2005–2006 season, the ballet companies of the Staatsoper and the Vienna Volksoper were merged under the direction of Gyula Harangozó.

From the 2010–2011 season a new company was formed called Wiener Staatsballet, Vienna State Ballet, under the direction of former Paris Opera Ballet principal dancer Manuel Legris. Legris eliminated Harangozós's policy of presenting nothing but traditional narrative ballets with guest artists in the leading roles, concentrated on establishing a strong in-house ensemble and restored evenings of mixed bill programs, featuring works of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, and many contemporary choreographers, as well as a reduced schedule of the classic ballets.

Opera ball

For many decades, the opera house has been the venue of the Vienna Opera Ball. It is an internationally renowned event, which takes place annually on the last Thursday in Fasching. Those in attendance often include visitors from around the world, especially prominent names in business and politics. The opera ball receives media coverage from a range of outlets.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Vienna, Austria
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 2
Duration: 5h 25min
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