Mime wishes to obtain the Nibelung hoard through Siegfried, whom he has raised, and reveals the secret of his origin to the youth. The dramatic events gather pace: Siegfried penetrates the sea of fire encircling Brünnhilde and glimpses the maiden in the dawn light. For the first time in his life, he experiences fear. He kisses Brünnhilde, who wakes and recognises the hero who did not flinch at the fire that protected her. Aware that this means the downfall of the gods, they swear eternal fidelity to each other.
Christian Franz is one of the most sought-after Wagnerian singers of our time and the creator of a great number of title roles in large-scale productions. 'What he knows about the emotional nuance of singing is equivalent to the vocal technique of great actors,” wrote one critic after his portrayal of Tristan at the 2010 Budapest Wagner Days. He made his début singing the music of Wagner at Bayreuth, one of its citadels, in 2001. In 2009, he also won over the audience at New York's Metropolitan Opera.
Gerhard Siegel regularly takes the stage for the four evenings of The Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy - as Siegmund, Siegfried and Loge - with his portrayals of Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried standing out among them. He has debuted as Mime, the dispossessed brother of Alberich, the dwarf bent on world domination, at New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, in Cologne, London's Covent Garden, as well as in Tokyo.
Péter Kálmán is one of Hungary's internationally renowned opera singers. He spent a number of years with the Zürich Opera's world-famous company, and appeared at both the Salzburg Easter Festival and the summer Salzburg Festival. He has worked with such renowned conductors as Valery Gergiev, Marc Minkowski, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Franz Welser-Möst. Recommended to join a recording cast by Cecilia Bartoli, he thus also partnered with Juan Diego Flórez and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo.
Walter Fink is a member of the Wiener Staatsoper and has been the bearer of the prestigious title of Kammersänger since 2001. The unique richness of his career spanning more than three decades is shown by the fact that he has played some 70 roles at the renowned opera house, including taking the stage in numerous Wagnerian operas.
Bernadett Fodor is one of the outstanding talents among the young generation of Hungarian opera singers and has performed Wagnerian roles on numerous occasions. She took the stage at the Frankfurt Opera House as a Valkyrie, and dazzled the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires with her vocal skills as a Rhinemaiden. She appeared at the Budapest Wagner Days for the first time in 2015.
Iréne Theorin made her début as Brünnhilde in Copenhagen, and has performed the role for audiences in Cologne, London, Beijing, Berlin, Dresden, as well as the Budapest Wagner Days. The Swedish soprano made her first appearance outside of Europe in 2009 in the Metropolitan Opera's productions of Die Walküre and Siegfried, and at the Washington National Opera. Heralded as the successor to Birgit Nilsson in the line of Swedish sopranos, she is today one of the most sought-after Wagnerian singers.
Mária Celeng is one of the most promising talents of those sopranos who are now starting their careers. She made her début at the Hungarian State Opera in 2013, and in that same year was a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World contest. Since then, she has participated at the Salzburg Festival in productions conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano and Franz Welser-Möst, and has also taken the stage at Milan's La Scala in a production directed by Robert Wilson.

More information about the Budapest Wagner Days here.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest