Heldentenor Matt Tschimperle (Siegfried)

Matt comes from New Prague, Minnesota and holds a Masters of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati: College Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Luther College. At Cincinnati Opera, he has performed in Aida, La Traviata, I Pagliacci, Otello, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Cincinnati Opera. This summer, he performed as Sir Galahad in the Showbiz Players production of Spamalot, and as the Harmonica soloist in Kevin Puts' new opera Silent Night.

Tenor M. Andrew Jones (Mime)

Mr. Jones recently performed the role of The Messenger in Aida as well as the Innkeeper in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier with Cincinnati Opera. Performances of other roles include The Banker in Jennifer Jolley's The Bubble, First Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte, Andrea Cipriani in Evan Mack's The Secret of Luca, Benny "Kid" Paret/Benny Jr. from Champion, Sellem from The Rake's Progress with Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Spoletta from Tosca with Cedar Rapids Opera company, and Monastatos in The Magic Flute. Mr. Jones holds an MM in Vocal performance from the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, where he performed the roles of Lennie in Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men and Bardolfo in Verdi's Falstaff. He received his BA in music from Luther College.

Bass Timothy J. Bruno (Der Wanderer)

Tim is a recent graduate of CCM’s Master of Music program, where he studied with William McGraw. The 2014-15 season begins with Tim joining Central City Opera’s prestigious Bonfils-Stanton Training Program, performing the role of Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, a role which he will reprise at Opera Columbus in March. Bruno will also cover the legendary Samuel Ramey in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah at Toledo Opera. Recent credits include his Wagnerian debut as Wotan in Die Walküre at Union Avenue Opera, Méphistophélès in Faust and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Winter Opera St. Louis, The Bonze in Opera Columbus' Madama Butterfly, Colline in La Boheme with El Paso Opera, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Curio in Giulio Cesare with Michigan Opera Theater. At Cincinnati Opera, he has covered Eric Owens in John Adam’s A Flowering Tree, and performed Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, 2nd Armored Guard in Magic Flute and Leopold in Der Rosenkavalier.

Synopsis:

Scene: Mime’s forge in a cave deep in the forest

Scene 1:

   

Mime the dwarf mulls his problems as he works in his forge. He wants to steal the magical Ring of the Nibelung from Fafner the Dragon, but he cannot kill Fafner himself. He knows that only Siegfried, the young boy that he is raising, can kill Fafner. In order to do so, Siegfried must use the enchanted sword called Nothung, but the blade was shattered by the spear of Wotan, king of the gods.

Mime has spent years trying to repair the blade without success. Siegfried possesses superhuman strength, and he breaks all the swords that Mime makes.

Siegfried arrives home with a bear he has captured, and threatens to have the bear eat Mime unless he makes a good sword. Mime gives him a sword, but Siegfried easily snaps it in two.

The two bicker. Mime reminds Siegfried that he raised him and that he should be thankful for that. Siegfried asks Mime questions about the natural word, culminating in a demand to know who his parents are.

When Siegfried becomes violent, Mime consents to tell him the story of his birth: Mime had found Sieglinde, Siegfried’s mother, alone in the woods, when she was about to give birth. He tried to help her, but she died in childbirth, leaving Mime with the infant Siegfried and the shards of the sword Nothung.

Siegfried demands that Mime repair the sword,

and then runs off into the woods.

Richard Wagner: Siegfried, Act I

Dates: October 24th and 26th 2014

Location: Arts Center at Dunham Theater

Artistic Director and Conductor: Isaac Selya

Assistant Conductor: Jesse Leong

Stage Director and Set Designer: James Slouffman

Assistant Director: Deborah Lewis

Scenic Engineer: Daniel Mazzone

Costume Design: Joy Galbraith

Lighting Design: Sally Stewart

Lighting Team: Amber McGarry and Larry Csernik

Production Photographer: Kurt Strecker

Supertitle Projectionist: Don Hurd

Production Assistant: Alex Magg

Scene 2:

A despondent Mime returns to the forge, when an old man in a cloak arrives. He begs to rest by Mime’s hearth, but Mime refuses. The old man proposes a battle of wits: in exchange for the comfort of Mime’s hearth, he will allow Mime to ask him three questions about anything. If he cannot answer all three correctly, Mime wins the old man’s head.

Mime tries to trick the man by asking questions about the different races that live underground, on the earth and in the sky. The man answers all of them correctly and then removes his hood, revealing himself to be Wotan, king of the gods.

He asks Mime three questions in return. Mime answers the first two, but is stumped when Wotan asks who can fix the sword called Nothung. Wotan reprimands Mime for not asking him that, and reveals that only a fearless person can fix the sword, and condemns Mime’s head as forfeit to that person. Wotan departs.

Scene 3:

Mime hallucinates that Fafner the Dragon is coming to kill him, and Siegfried returns home to find Mime hiding. Mime asks Siegfried if he knows what fear is, but Siegfried does not understand the concept. Mime realizes that Siegfried is the fearless person Wotan mentioned. He convinces Siegfried that they should visit Fafner’s cave to learn fear. Realizing that Mime will never repair Nothung, an excited Siegfried sets to work forging the sword himself. Meanwhile, Mime brews a poisonous drink so he can kill Siegfried after Siegfried wins the ring from Fafner.

Siegfried shreds the pieces of the sword, melts them down, and remakes the sword from scratch. He shows off his work by cleaving Mime’s anvil into two parts, as the two rejoice.

Supporters

ArtsWave, CCM/ArtsWave Community Partnership, UC Honors Program, Dr. Paule Asche, Allen Barnard, Judy Brody, Dr. Bob and Suzanne Hasl, Dolores Kim, Jerry and Nancy Kline, Al and Mary López, Yaron Luk-Zilberman, Vicky Mary, Marilyn Z. Ott, Dr. Barbara Ramusack, The Saenger Family Foundation