Above: Siegmund Nimsgern as Wotan
Siegmund Nimsgern - Leb' wohl du kühnes herrliches Kind! - P Schneider cond - Bayreuth 1984
"Farewell, you bold,
heroic child!
You, my heart's
holiest pride...
farewell, farewell, farewell!
If I must reject you -
and may not lovingly
embrace you again,
if you may no longer
ride beside me,
or bring me mead at table;
if I must lose
you whom I loved -
you, the smiling delight of my eyes -
then a bridal fire
shall burn for you,
as never burned for any bride!
A blazing circle of flame
shall flare up round the rock;
with devouring power
let it scare the fainthearted;
let cowards flee from
from Brünnhilde's rock!
For only a free man shall win the bride:
one freer than I, the god!"
~ DIE WALKURE/Act III