![]() ![]() These are prime examples of Wagner's method of using leitmotifs to introduce and develop characters. When he is chosen to lead a war with Ethiopia, we follow the conflict of Aida’s love for both Radames and for her country. Aida is an Ethiopian princess held captive in Egypt, in love with a General, Radames, and he with her. Wagner essentially tells us, through music, who their father is, without either character knowing. The story is a roller coaster of emotions told through Verdi’s powerful music. Furthermore, in the first act of Die Walküre, neither Siegmund nor Sieglinde ever find out that Wotan is their father, yet references to their unknown father are accompanied by the Wotan theme in the orchestra. No character knows about Siegfried - he is not even born - and yet, Wagner tells us about him in the music. At the end of Die Walküre, when Wotan places Brünnhilde on a rock and surrounds her with magic flames as punishment for her disobedience, he declares that 'anyone who fears Wotan's spear shall not pass.' As he sings these words, the orchestra plays the leitmotif of Siegfried, the very man who will one day surpass the flames and wake Brünnhilde from her slumber. Like all of his operas, it contains numerous leitmotifs: short themes which represent people, places, or objects in the plot. Take the most famous of them all: the Ring Cycle tetralogy (Der Ring des Nibelungen). ![]()
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