Götterdämmerung

Through Siegfried, the hero who knows no fear, comes the rule of the free man unhampered by laws, whose final victory, the triumph of humanity, is unstoppable! This was Wagner's original train of though. But with his new-found understanding of the philosophy of Schopenhauer, his revolutionary zeal and optimism turned to a view of cosmic darkness: “Continuing to work on my Nibelung, it came to me (….) that I had recognised the essence of the world in its total and hopeless nothingness. Nevertheless, I had vindicated the final intent, (….) I had found the fitting keystone with which to finish my work, and which truly unveiled the essence of things...” Brünnhilde's farewell to the world reveals the only lasting thing of value: the sanctity of love united in death. Will mankind truly ever free itself from the attraction of power and gold and instead be led by its own humanity?