clear – the thematic material, which must be strongly emphasized throughout.” [880W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 105-106]
[881W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 107]
[P. 107] “During the melody, here transformed into an expression of passion (it was first heard from Fricka in ‘Das Rheingold) [* Translator’s Footnote: “At ‘herrliche Wohnung, wonniger Hausrat’.”]: … Siegfried gesticulates wildly.” [881W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 107]
[882W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 107]
[P. 107] “Before singing the words, ‘Wem ruf’ ich zum Heil, dass er mir helfe?’, he draws away somewhat from Bruennhilde. He should not look at her as he cries, ‘Wie weck’ ich die Maid, dass sie Auge mir oeffne?’ ‘Siegfried is frightened by the [P. 108] thought of all he is about to undergo’, Wagner explained.” [882W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 107]
[883W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 109]
[P. 109] “While they sing, each contemplates the other in deep astonishment. Interpreting the significance of this, Wagner said: ‘It is as though a prophecy were being fulfilled.’ “ [883W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 109]
[884W-{6-8/76} WRR, p. 111-113]
[P. 111] “The psychological turning-point of the scene, after Siegfried’s comment, ‘Wie Wunder toent, was wonnig du singst, doch dunkel duenkt mich der Sinn’, Wagner defined by the statement: ‘Up to this point Siegfried and Bruennhilde have been carried away, as though in the realm of the gods; now they begin to face each other as two persons.’ Bruennhilde is still ‘sublimely innocent’, but in Siegfried the blood of the Waelsungs is stirring; at the orchestral figure: … [P. 112] his passion awakens and this must manifest itself in his gestures. In the same way the tone of Siegfried’s utterances must alter: he no longer exudes a high-spirited freedom, for now he is under the compulsion of an unknown, irresistible force of nature. This is what he is experiencing when, at the orchestra’s cadential figure: … he is seized by a sudden anguish. Bruennhilde, too, is beginning to feel this; it is as though during the short interlude before her reply, ‘Dort seh’ ich Grane … ‘: … she were seeking a pretext for deterring him. (…) Bruennhilde appears not to understand Siegfried; sadly she looks back on her former life – ‘thinks of her little household’, as Wagner humorously put it. But when she again attempts to evade Siegfried’s mounting passion, ‘now she knows what she is dealing with’, and at her words, ‘ich bin ohne Schutz und Schirm, ohne Trutz ein trauriges Weib!’, we feel that her resistance is broken. Siegfried must deliver his ‘Noch bist du mir die traeumende Maid’ ‘in the trembling voice of one who is suffering’, and lean against a rock as though in need of support. (…) [P. 113] Every stage direction must of course be scrupulously observed; a small supplement is the demand that Siegfried should draw back somewhat from Bruennhilde as he delivers his exhortation, ‘Tauch’ aus dem Dunkel und sieh’: sonnenhall leuchter der Tag!’ It is, as Wagner said, a ‘terrible moment’ when Bruennhilde, at the height of her agitation, cries back: ‘Sonnenhall leuchtet der Tag meiner Schmach!’ He recited the words himself with the intensity he always displayed at such moments, the intensity of a flash of lightning,
