"Who is your favorite character in the ring?"
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MANY
"It's quite impossible to name just one favorite character... Richard Wagner reflected himself in many characters - as an interpreter, it's impossible to settle on just one, otherwise you fall far short artistically. Just think of the four major characters in the Ring: Brünnhilde, Wotan, Siegfried and Alberich: they are all fascinating in their own way and you can identify with each of them to some extent. That is the great thing about a work like this, that even such a negative character as Alberich has deeply understandable human traits: his greed for power is nothing more than a reaction to rejected love. And he is the only authentic character who does not lie or pretend. Wotan, on the other hand, is the first character many people identify with, because you experience a whole life story, from wanting to plan and fail, to letting go at the end. Brünnhilde: Anyway! She is actually the figure of redemption in the Ring. Siegfried, and especially Siegmund and Sieglinde... are all so lifelike, so magnificently composed characters! No, just one favorite character: that would really be too little for me!"
Philippe Jordan, Music Director of the Vienna State Opera
ALBERICH
"My favorite character in the Ring is Alberich; he not only 'provides the end', as Wotan says in Die Walküre, but also the beginning and sets the plot in motion when he - mocked and humiliated by the Rhinemaidens - renounces love and forges the Ring. We see him both at the height of his quest for power and at his lowest ebb, when he loses everything and is just waiting to win the ring back. He is one of the most tragic characters for me because he seems to know no love and his quest for power is just a substitute for this emptiness. His meeting with the Wanderer in Siegfried is one of the most exciting scenes for me: The once most powerful adversaries - Light-Alberich Wotan and Night-Alberich - face each other: Both long since disempowered, pretending to still have influence, while their time is already over."
Elisabeth Fischer, director of the scenic production of Rheingold & Siegfried
ERDA
"My favorite character is Erda. She only appears in two scenes (in the truest sense of the word) - and both times, time stands still musically on the spot. Her music is completely different from that of any other person in the Ring: almost consistently slow and at the same time with a spellbinding, enigmatic authority. And even in her absence, she is virtually present in the background: her main leitmotif recurs at significant points in all four operas."
Jendrik Springer, Musical Assistant to the Music Director
MIME
"Mime has always been the character who arouses the greatest sympathy in me. The most talented blacksmith in Nibelheim, very well-read, leading a happy life at the beginning. Subjugated and mistreated by his brother, he becomes a recluse until Sieglinde meets him and he patiently raises what is probably the most difficult child ever born, only to be hated by Siegfried too."
Andreas Abegg, Maestro Suggeritore
WOTAN
"As the new father of a little girl, the answer to my favorite character must of course be Wotan. In contrast to the Lichtalben, I was allowed to keep both eyes open during my partner's courtship, so hopefully I will notice my offspring's future disobedience in good time and can therefore save myself the probably cost-intensive purchase of a ring of fire."
Martin Hässler, member of the ensemble
BRÜNNHILDE
"My favorite character in the Ring is definitely Brünnhilde. Brünnhilde is such an iconic figure in the opera world and popular culture that even people who have never been to the opera recognize her famous battle cry from Die Walküre. She is also a true 'modern woman', rarely seen in 19th century operas; for it is Brünnhilde's love, strength and defiance that ultimately redeem everyone from the curse of the Ring."
Isabel Signoret, member of the ensemble
SIEGLINDE
"Sieglinde! Sieglinde is a central character in Die Walküre. A woman who frees herself from the tyrannical constraints of her husband Hunding - a rebel! Siegmund, her twin brother, awakens unexpected passions in her. With him, she conceives the greatest hero of all time, Siegfried, that very night! Love drives her to break away from her former married life of servitude and she flees into the unknown. Her risky path ultimately leads to her death. A tragic heroine who deeply touches all listeners with her divine song. A sorrowful but strong figure in the epic Ring of the Nibelung."
Natalie Ortner-Menconi, director of the scenic production of Walküre & Götterdämmerung
THE LITTLE FOREST BIRD
"The little forest bird. Above all because it is not entangled in the almost omnipresent web of fate, ambition, will, greed for power and violence, but is free. And it is a being that helps others with its knowledge."
Katharina Hötzenecker, Head of the Music Archive of the Vienna State Opera
