Das Rheingold

The preliminary evening of *The Ring Cycle* opens on the banks of the ancient Rhine, where the Rhinemaidens play. Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, attempts to seduce one of them but is rebuffed. In mockery, they reveal their secret: the gold they guard can be used to forge a ring capable of ruling the world, though its creation demands the renunciation of love. Alberich steals the gold, forges the ring, and sets his ambitions in motion. Meanwhile, Wotan, King of the Gods, seeks to secure funding for the construction of Valhalla. He had promised his sister-in-law as payment to the giants Fafner and Fasolt, but his wife Fricka objects. Loge, the God of Fire, deceives Alberich and delivers him to Wotan, who seizes the ring. In retaliation, Alberich curses it: the absence of the ring will incite desire for it, and its possession will bring only suffering. Wotan gives the ring to Fafner as ransom for Fricka's sister. The performance was filmed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in June and July 1991.