Sunday Classics: "Ingratitude is always Loge's lot"

English singing translation by Andrew Porter, used in the Goodall-ENO performance below:

LOGE: Never one word
of praise or thanks!
For your sake alone,
hoping to help
I restlessly roamed
to the ends of the earth
to find a ransom for Freia,
one that the giants would like more.
In vain sought I,
and now I can see
in this whole wide world,
nothing at all
is of greater
worth to a man
than woman's beauty and love!

I asked every one living,
in water, earth, and sky,
one question, sought for the answer
and all whom I met,
I asked them this question:
"What in the world
means more to you
than woman's beauty and love?"
But wherever life was stirring
they laughed at me
when they heard what I asked:
in water, earth, and sky, none
would forego the joys of love.

But one I found then
who scorned the delights of love,
who valued gold more dearly
than woman's grace.
The fair and shining Rhinemaidens
came to me with their tale:
The Nibelung dwarf Alberich
begged for their favors,
but he begged them in vain;
the Rhinegold he tore
in revenge from their rock
and now he holds it
dearer than love,
greater than woman's grace.
For their glittering toy
thus torn from the deep
the maidens are sadly mourning.
Return, Wotan,
in anguish, you, for
they ask that you will avenge them;
the gold they pray
that you will restore it,
to shine in the waters forever.

So I promised I'd tell you the story,
and that's what Loge has done.

[in English] Emile Belcourt (t), Loge; English National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI-Chandos, recorded live, March 1975

Gerhard Stolze (t), Loge; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded December 1967

Ramón Vinay (t), Loge; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Stiedry, cond. Live performance, Jan. 26, 1957

by Ken

As I explained Friday night, we're headed toward some serious Bruckner, for which we need to make the acquaintance of music's superscout, the demigod Loge, god of fire and of lies. Friday night we encountered him transformed back into his original state, as fire -- specifically, the Magic Fire with which Wotan surrounds the cherished daughter he is abandoning, Brünnhilde.

We backtrack now to Das Rheingold, and in a moment we're going to meet Loge at his first appearance, fresh from a scouting mission for the head god, Wotan. Now it sounds as if Loge is merely performing an errand for Wotan, looking for a way out of his bind -- having promised his wife's sister, Freia, as payment to the giants Fasolt and Fafner for their heroic efforts in building Wotan's great castle, Valhalla. But Loge is no errand demigod. As he has already pointed out to Wotan (as we're going to hear in a moment, sticking to Andrew Porter's singing translation:

I roam through the whole
wide world as I please!
I'm not held
by house or home.

And for me there's an unmistakable "travelogue" quality to Loge's great narrative, which we've just heard in character-tenorish performances by Peter Schreier and Emile Belcourt, a rather more dramatic one by Gerhard Stolze, and a full-fledged Heldentenor's richly sung rendering (admittedly a distinctly baritonish-sounding) from Ramón Vinay.


MOVING BACK TO LOGE'S ARRIVAL . . .

At the start of Scene 2 of Das Rheingold, Wotan had taken on his lordliest airs to hail the completion of Valhalla, despite the nattering of his wife, Fricka. Then Fasolt and Fafner showed up expecting payment for the job, and Wotan had to sweat it out until Loge's eventual arrival. We return now to that moment, in an excerpt that takes us right up to the start of Loge's narrative.

WOTAN [sees LOGE approaching]: There is Loge!
Where have you been,
you who assured me
that I'd escape from this contract?
LOGE [climbing up from the valley]:
What? How am I concerned in a contract?
You mean that agreement
you have made with these giants?
I roam through the whole
wide world as I please!
I'm not held
by house or home.
Donner and Froh
are dreaming of household joys,
if they would wed,
a house first they must own.
And castle walls
and lofty halls,
they were what Wotan craved.
Lofty halls,
castle walls,
a home for the gods,
it stands here strongly built.
I inspected all
the place myself.
It's firmly made,
safe and secure:
Fasolt and Fafner,
excellent work!
No stone stirs on its bed.
So I was not lazy,
like others here;
he lies who says that I was.
WOTAN: Don't try to
escape from the point!
If you betray me,
if you have tricked me, beware!
Recall that I
am your only friend.
I took your part
when the other gods were unkind.
So speak, I need your help!
When first those giants made terms
and asked Freia as payment,
you know I only gave my consent
because you promised you'd
find something else
that they'd rather have.
LOGE: I merely promised
I'd consider how we might save her,
and that's all I said.
But to discover
what can't be found,
what never was,
who'd ever make such a promise?
FRICKA [to WOTAN]: That's the knave
whom you thought you could trust!
FROH: Loge, hear me!
Your name should be Liar!
DONNER: Accursed Loge,
I'll quench your flame!
LOGE: To conceal his blunders
every fool blames me!
[DONNER attacks LOGE. WOTAN intervenes.]
WOTAN: Now cease reviling, my friend!
You know not Loge's ways:
his advice
is worth all the more,
when we wait on his words.
FAFNER: Wait no longer!
Pay our wage!
FASOLT: Come, no more delay!
WOTAN [to LOGE]: Speak out, stubborn one!
Keep your word,
and tell me now where you've been.

[in English] Norman Bailey (b), Wotan; Emile Belcourt (t), Loge; Katherine Pring (ms), Fricka; Robert Ferguson (t), Froh; Norman Welsby (b), Donner; Clifford Grant (bs), Fafner; Robert Lloyd (bs), Fasolt; English National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI-Chandos, recorded live, March 1975

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b), Wotan; Gerhard Stolze (t), Loge; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Donald Grobe (t), Froh; Robert Kerns (b), Donner; Karl Ridderbusch (bs), Fafner; Martti Talvela (bs), Fasolt; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded December 1967

Hermann Uhde (b), Wotan; Ramón Vinay (t), Loge; Blanche Thebom (ms), Fricka; James McCracken (t), Froh; Arthur Budney (b), Donner; Dezsö Ernster (bs), Fafner; Kurt Böhme (bs), Fasolt; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Stiedry, cond. Live performance, Jan. 26, 1957


NOW WE JUMP A BIT . . .

Loge has brought up the subject of the theft of the Rhinegold by the Nibelung Alberich -- which was the central action of Scene 1 of Das Rheingold -- in order to lay their case for help before Wotan. However, mention of the all-powerful ring that can be forged from the gold has gotten the attention of everyone assembled -- Wotan and Fricka, Fricka's brothers Froh and Donner, and the giants Fasolt and Fafner.

FAFNER: You there, Loge,
tell me the truth;
what glory lies in the gold,
that the Nibelung holds so dear?
LOGE: A toy while it was in the waters,
lighting the Rhinemaidens' games;
but when as a shinging
ring it is fashioned,
helped by its magic power
its owner conquers the world.
WOTAN [meditatively]: I have heard men tell
of the Rhinegold: Charms
of riches lurk in that golden gleam;
mighty powers
are his who can forge that ring.
FRICKA [to LOGE]: Could a woman use
the golden ring
for herself and wear
it to charm her lord?
LOGE: No husband dare
be false to his wife
when she commands
that glittering wealth,
that busy dwarfs are forging,
ruled by the power of the ring.
FRICKA: O how can my husband
win us the gold?
WOTAN: And I should possess it!
Soon this ring should be Wotan's.
But say, Loge,
which is the art
by which the gold can be forged?
LOGE: A magic spell will
hange the gold to a ring.
No one knows it,
but he can use the spell
who only love foreswears.
Ha, ha!
Could you do that?
Too late in any case!
Alberich did not delay.
He cursed and mastered
the magic spell;
and he is lord of the ring!
DONNER [to WOTAN]: We shall all
be slaves to the dwarf
unless the ring
can be captured.
WOTAN: The ring, I must have it!
FROH: Easily done,
now that love you need not renounce.
LOGE: Child's play,
at a stroke you can make it yours!
WOTAN: Then tell me how!
LOGE: By theft!
What a thief stole,
you steal from the thief!
You seize it and
make it your own.
But you'll need your wits
fighting Alberich;
he'll defend
what he has stolen,
so be skillful, swift, and shrewd
if you'd please
the Rhinemaidens
and then restore
their gold back to the waters;
they yearn and long for their gold.

[in English] Clifford Grant (b), Fafner; Emile Belcourt (t), Loge; Norman Bailey (b), Wotan; Katherine Pring (ms), Fricka; Norman Welsby (b), Donner; Robert Ferguson (t), Froh; English National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI-Chandos, recorded live, March 1975

Karl Ridderbusch (b), Fafner; Gerhard Stolze (t), Loge; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b), Wotan; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Robert Kerns (b), Donner; Donald Grobe (t), Froh; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded December 1967

Dezsö Ernster (bs), Fafner; Ramón Vinay (t), Loge; Hermann Uhde (b), Wotan; Blanche Thebom (ms), Fricka; Arthur Budney (b), Donner; James McCracken (t), Froh; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Stiedry, cond. Live performance, Jan. 26, 1957


BUT A CONTRACT IS A CONTRACT

And it doesn't matter that Wotan never intended to honor the contract. The terms are clear, and the giants now carry Freia off. What happens then to the gods was in fact foreseen by Fafner, who knows that Freia tends the golden apples that keep the gods young.

FREIA: Sister! Brothers!
Save me! Help!
[The GIANTS drag her away quickly.]
FROH: On, to her aid!
DONNER: Everything's ended!
[They look questioningly at WOTAN.]
FREIA [distant]: Save me! Help!
LOGE [gazing after the GIANTS]:
Over rock and stone they stride,
down to the vale;
through the Rhine they forge ahead,
waddling and wading.
Sad at heart
hangs Freia,
while borne on the backs
of those ruffians!
Heia! ha! hei!
They stumble and stride on their way!
Now they're through,
climbing the slope.
They'll not rest
till they've reached rough
Riesenheim's bounds.
Why is Wotan
brooding and sad?
Alas, what's troubling the gods?
[A thin mist fills the scene with growing density; it gives the gods an increasingly pale and aging appearance. Fearful and expectant, they all stand gazing at WOTAN, whose eyes are fixed thoughtfully on the ground.]
Mists, d'you deceive me?
Is this a dream?
How gray you've grown,
so weary and weak!
From your cheeks the bloom dies out;
the flash from your eyes fades away!
Come, my Froh!
Day is still young!
From your hand, Donner,
you're dropping the hammer!
What's wrong with Fricka?
Can she be mourning
that Wotan, gloomy and gray,
should suddenly seem old?
FRICKA: Sorrow! Sorrow!
What can it mean?
DONNER: My hand is weak!
FROH: My heart is still!
LOGE: I see how!
Hear what is wrong!
Of Freia's fruit
you've not yet eaten today.
The golden apples
that grown in her garden,
they kept you so vigorous and young,
eating them every day.
But she who tended them
now is a hostage;
on the branches droops
and dies the fruit.
So I'm not godlike,
I'm not so glorious as you!
But you staked your future
on that youth-giving fruit;
the giants knew that all too well,
and at your lives
this blow has been aimed.
So think how to escape!
Lacking the apples,
old and gray,
worn and weary,
withered and scorned by the world,
the gods grow old and die.
FRICKA: Wotan, my lord!
Unhappy man!
See how your selfish
folly has brought us
sore disgrace and shame!

[in English] Lois McDonall (s), Freia; Robert Ferguson (t), Froh; Norman Welsby (b), Donner; Emile Belcourt (t), Loge; Katherine Pring (ms), Fricka; English National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI-Chandos, recorded live, March 1975

Simone Mangelsdorff (s), Freia; Donald Grobe (t), Froh; Gerhard Stolze (t), Loge; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded December 1967

Mariquita Moll (s), Freia; James McCracken (t), Froh; Arthur Budney (b), Donner; Ramón Vinay (t), Loge; Blanche Thebom (ms), Fricka; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Stiedry, cond. Live performance, Jan. 26, 1957

And now Wotan prepares to execute the only plan open to him: sliding down to the bowels of the earth, to Nibelheim, to find a way to steal the ring from Alberich.


NOW LET'S LISTEN TO THE WHOLE SCENE

That is to say, from our starting and stopping points, but including the connective tissue left out above.


[in English] Norman Bailey (b), Wotan; Emile Belcourt (t), Loge; Katherine Pring (ms), Fricka; Robert Ferguson (t), Froh; Norman Welsby (b), Donner; Clifford Grant (bs), Fafner; Robert Lloyd (bs), Fasolt; Lois McDonall (s), Freia; English National Opera Orchestra, Reginald Goodall, cond. EMI-Chandos, recorded live, March 1975

John Tomlinson (bs), Wotan; Graham Clark (t), Loge; Linda Finnie (ms), Fricka; Kurt Schreibmayer (t), Froh; Bodo Brinkmann (b), Donner; Philip Kang (bs), Fafner; Matthias Hölle (bs), Fasolt; Eva Johansson (s), Freia; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec, recorded live, June-July 1991

George London (b), Wotan; Karl Liebl (t), Loge; Irene Dalis (ms), Fricka; Robert Nagy (t), Froh; Norman Mittelmann (b), Donner; Ernst Wiemann (bs), Fafner; Jerome Hines (bs), Fasolt; Heidi Krall (s), Freia; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf. Live performance, Dec. 16, 1961


COMING NEXT WEEK SOON IN SUNDAY CLASSICS:

We hear Anton Bruckner performing what always seem to me like Loge-ish scouting functions as we explore his unfinished final symphony, his Ninth.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK:

"Preview: Wotan's farewell -- feeling the pain" [10/18/2013]
"Can we fully feel Wotan's pain knowing that it's mostly self-inflicted?" [10/20/2013]

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