Although devoted Wagnerians savor every word of the plot or story of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, their obsession can bore neophytes almost to death, and certainly often discourages newcomers from even attempting to take a look at Wagner.
This is unfortunate, for we can see by their devotion to Wagner, that there must be something in the Ring that they find important and inspiring.
I could go on for hundreds of pages about the story line and German mythology in the Ring, but it would only drive newcomers away from what I hoped to achieve: that they might take the plunge and see Wagner's Gotterdammerung on Feb. 11th, and see the visual story action, and music so moving it inspired Gustav Mahler.
So, I'll resist the temptation to tell you all the details, and merely give you a very short synopsis of Gotterdammerung, with the promise that seeing it and listening to the gorgeous musical motives and themes will help you understand why Mahler found it so attractive.
"Gotterdammerung in two minutes":
Gotterdammerung means "the twilight of the gods."
To take a philosophical perspective, it is the curse upon those who exploit Nature (the Rhine gold) out of greed, and the desire to control their fellow man.
It's also the culmination of the love story of Siegfried and Brunnhilde--a marriage "made in heaven" (or at least planned by Wotan, the ruler of the gods).
Act 1
finds Hagen, (the son of the Nibelung who cursed the gold ring he had made) conferring with Gunter about how to get the Ring, and control the world (the recurrent theme in The Ring).
Elsewhere, Brunnhilde, a Walkure--a half god/half woman--hears that the Rhine Maidens (freshwater mermaids) are wailing over the loss of their Rheingold, which has been stolen and transformed into the magical Ring, which allows the user to control the world, but which also, because of its curse, condemns the user to death.
Act 2
Hagen plots further to get the Ring, by the use of a magic potion which makes Siegfried forget his love for Brunnhilde.
Act 3
The Rhinemaidens continue lamenting the corruption of their gold.
Hagen kills Siegfried.
Hagen kills Gunter.
Brunnhilde builds a funeral pyre for Siegfried.
Brunnhilde condemns the gods for their part in the murder of Siegfried.
Brunnhilde takes the Ring and throws herself into the fire, which brings the destruction of Valhalla and the end of the world of the gods.
It also returns the Ring, the Rhine gold, to Nature and brings redemption--the possibility of a new and better world, released from the curse of greed.
The final minutes of Gotterdammerung express the image of redemption and hope that inspires us, and inspired Mahler to include in his own works (I would say certainly M2,3,4, and 8, at least!)
OK. If you just can't bear to spend several hours watching an opera, even in a movie theater, at least get a CD and listen to the last 15 minutes of Gotterdammerung. It could change your life. It certainly changed Mahler's!