Above: contralto Qiu lin Zhang, basso Yvgeny Nikitin
In this scene from the final act of Wagner's SIEGFRIED, Wotan (in his guise as The Wanderer) wakens the Earth Mother Erda from her deep slumber. She wearily evades his questions, and it becomes clear that the doom of the gods is at hand.
SIEGFRIED - Act III scene- Evgeny Nikitin - Qiu Lin Zhang - Eschenbach - BBC Proms 2006