Götterdämmerung (Jan. 11, 1936)

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Bodanzky; Lawrence, Melchior, Schorr, Hofmann

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 41 min.

This legendary broadcast begins deep in the mists of myth, with the Fates weaving the destiny of the world—and ends with nothing less than its cataclysmic destruction. Love, betrayal, magic potions, and nefarious plotting all combine in this epic finale of Wagner’s Ring cycle. This performance features a radiant Marjorie Lawrence as Brünnhilde, who electrified the audience by actually jumping onto her horse and triumphantly riding off the stage at the end of her glorious immolation scene. Lauritz Melchior’s heroic Siegfried is the standard against which all others are measured.