(Wagner)
ACT 1. Scene 1
Relayed from the Royal Opera House
Govent Garden
Characters :
Conductor, BRUNO WALTER
IN The Rhine-Gold, the first of the four
Music Dramas making up the Ring cycle, we aro told how the ring was made from stolen gold, and how Wotan, King of the Gods, stole the ring. The evil consequences of those thefts are shown in the whole tetralogy. Of The Rhine-Gold we are to hear the first Scene.
The action takes place at the bottom of the river Rhine.
When the curtain rises Rhine maidens are seen swimming about, sporting together and singing. These are the guardians of the treasure of gold. To them comes the dwarf Alberich. He sees the gold glowing in the depths of the river, and the maidens tell him that whoever can make a ring from the gold will be able to conquer the world. Only a man who forswears love can succeed. Alberich determines to pay the price, curses love, and, snatching the gold, bears it away.