Meet
the Characters
Loge
:
As
Freia, he exists mostly in the partition of orchestra. It is only
in the prologue that one sees and hears him. Traditionally he is
fire made into man. But one also assimilates him to the devil.
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Thin,
dressed in red, with mephistophilic make-up, the ironic mask
congealed in a grin, Loge risks to lose his enigmatic individuality.
Chéreau knew how to accentuate the perversity and the
intelligence of the character, make him live and confer him
this mystery and this obsequiousness, which makes him into
a distinct character.
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Kupfer
dressed him in black like Chéreau and created a sort of albino
and morbid phantom. Like the Rhine maidens, Loge is an element.
Because of this his body movements are intimately connected to his
physical demonstrations, very exactly indicated in the musical partition.
These characters are perpetually in movement: swimming for some,
jumping and gliding for others. A trail of fire musically and visually
accompanies Loge in each of his movements as a phosphorescent aura.
Only the flame will remain from the "Walküre" on.
Loge
reacts like a human being also. He has real or feigned emotions.
One feels his spite barely hidden from the Gods, hatred and
envy like Alberich's. He gives us the key himself: he was
never totally integrated. He is merely a God of secondary
importance, and has never benefited from Freia's generosities
(golden apples of eternal youth). As Hagen, he has aged prematurely
and wishes to annihilate the Gods.
For
a certain number of commentators, Loge is a positive character.
Here some of them see Wotan's consciousness, and others see
pure and speculative intelligence. An attentive exam of the
poem denies both of these interpretations.
First
of all, the character betrays those who rely on him. Alberich
believed to have understood it, but he did not realize that
the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. Who
urged Wotan to sign the pact with the Giants and to promise
to free Freia? Who tempted Fricka by the bait of the Gold?
Who pretended to absolve Wotan by declaring: " robbing
a thief is not to steal?
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Who claims that Wotan benefited twice because he benefited at the
same moment from the ownership of the Ring and from its loss? Finally,
who entailed Fasolt's death, by giving him the deadly advice to
appropriate the Ring? The mockeries, which he does not spare to
the Rhine maidens, go further than
mindlessness of the Gods.
It
is so for the fatal role of the traitor. But what differentiates
Loge from the other dark characters of the list is the impudence
with which he gives lessons of morality. Wotan is right to cry to
him: You are either completely stupid or totally perverse. Loge
is unmistakably lucid and intelligent. He is ashamed to compromise
with the Gods. From a certain point of view, he plays a Brecht's
role of narrator. For example, he sings with an admirable lyric
the beauty and the value of the love of a woman, then he outbids
by praising the spells of the Ring. Or he comments on the kidnapping
of Freia by the Giants, or the glory of the Gods.
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The
music is also strongly distanced in the style of Kurt Weill
in Mahagonny. There appears a very shrill parody of the theme
of Walhalla when Loge flatters Alberich by comparing him with
a radiant celestial body. Also, when he addresses Alberich
the prisoner, the accompanying imitates the style of a French
comic opera.
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It
is no coincidence that one makes him play the role of the presenter
(Lenhoff) or that one makes him close the scene curtain (Chéreau).
Finally the vocal line is exceptionally "musical" and
of a great expressive power, in agreement with the seduction of
the character.
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