Another Walküre

[Sarastro]

Seriously though, you have 24 recordings of this opera? Why??!

I have 24 Magic Flutes; about 15-20 of each: Normas, Turandots, Carmens, Pagliacci's, Lucia's, La Boheme's, Don Giovanni's, Verdi's most famous ones, 31 Toscas (there are people with 74 afaik), and other. And almost no Wagner and almost no video-recordings. Unfortunately, some great operas were recorded only 2-3 times...well, at least they were recorded.

You are just not an opera "geek," Guido, so you can't understand. Exactly as Lis has described.

[Guido]

I have 24 Magic Flutes; about 15-20 of each: Normas, Turandots, Carmens, Pagliacci's, Lucia's, La Boheme's, Don Giovanni's, Verdi's most famous ones, 31 Toscas (there are people with 74 afaik), and other. And almost no Wagner and almost no video-recordings. Unfortunately, some great operas were recorded only 2-3 times...well, at least they were recorded.

You are just not an opera "geek," Guido, so you can't understand. Exactly as Lis has described.

I presume that these were not all got through "legitimate" means!! I am as obsessed about music as anyone that I know, (though, I admit that my interests are much wider than just opera) but it doesn't mean that I feel the need to get 24 versions of anything, and I just don't see that changing, or ever being able to understand that mind set. But it's a free country (or rather "a free Western World"!), and if it makes you happy, then I don't really have a problem with it. I happen to know someone on this forum who has a truly vast collection - almost more than is believable - who has got 'only' three lots of recordings of the late Beethoven Quartets. Imagine!

[PerfectWagnerite]

Wagner's stage instructions say nothing about sinking to the floor, slowly or otherwise, or for that matter dashing off behind the bushes. (Hunding is out like a light; moreover, there's just been a storm, so the ground is still damp.) The curtain is however intended to fall quickly, presumably with the last cadence, which gives the twins 24 bars of ever accelerating (Immer schneller), raging (wüthend) music to get started in full view of the audience.

My copy, the cheaper Dover score, has the "Er zieht sie mit wuetender Glut an sich" direction in the same bar as Siegmund's final word "Blut", and the direction "Der Vorhang faellt schnell" is the 4th bar later which is a little different than the score you provided. This is only 4 bars and there is likely only enough time for Siegmund to draw Sieglinde towards him and that's about it. All the rolling around, kissing, or even running out into the woods you would never see if you follow Wagner's exact stage directions.

[Brünnhilde forever]

And of course it is futile to expect from intelligent persons a broadminded opinion of performances with less than strict adherence to Wagner's stage instructions, given over one hundred years ago! 

[(poco) Sforzando]

My copy, the cheaper Dover score, has the "Er zieht sie mit wuetender Glut an sich" direction in the same bar as Siegmund's final word "Blut", and the direction "Der Vorhang faellt schnell" is the 4th bar later which is a little different than the score you provided. This is only 4 bars and there is likely only enough time for Siegmund to draw Sieglinde towards him and that's about it. All the rolling around, kissing, or even running out into the woods you would never see if you follow Wagner's exact stage directions.

My score is identical to yours. I am simply presuming that the curtain would most likely fall with the last cadence.

Directors will obviously come up with their own stagings. But I believe a distinction needs to be made between essential stage directions, and secondary directions that can be interpreted more loosely. Personally I don't care if the twins rolls around on the floor, run out into the bushes, or just start groping each other wildly. The essential thing is that they are understood to start getting it on.