All good things must come to an end, and so the Edinburgh International Festival’s Ring Cycle reaches its Götterdämmerung with a scorching performance from Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde.

We recall, from last year’s Part 3, that Siegfried is not the brightest hero in mythology or opera. Burkhardt Fritz imbued his rather unsympathetic character with beguiling brashness which did not quite mask Siegfried’s failings, most of which relate to his lack of imagination. So the fairytale romance of Brünnhilde and Siegfried comes to an end in a mixture of recrimination and melodrama. The storyline of Götterdämmerung, after all, would not be out of place in your average soap opera, all family fallings-out, deceit and betrayal, culminating in the sort of disaster which would be grasped by any ratings-hungry show-runner. The Norns – Ronnita Miller, Karen Cargill and Erin Wall – do warn us that all is unravelling.

Brünnhilde never seems to wonder if her father Wotan actually did her a favour in letting Siegfried win her hand, given her dismissal of Gunther as unworthy of her. Though Gunther is hardly the most dynamic character, Josef Wagner gave him dignity, and convincingly insulted what he thought was his co-conspirator, Hagen. His sister Gutrune is also in on the conspiracy – to get Siegfried as her husband and the ring for Hagen. Amber Wagner has a rich voice and did righteous indignation as beautifully as she welcomed her new husband. The girly bonding with Brünnhilde, when the deceit of their menfolk becomes apparent, was a nice touch. 

Ain Anger had the laid-back scheming of Hagen to perfection, against Samuel Youn’s energy and passion as his vengeful father Alberich, so that he seemed the only grown-up in the room. Even Brünnhilde is gullible, not paying heed to her sister Waltraute (Karen Cargill again) who risks so much to warn her of doom. The Rhinemaidens (Danae Kontora, Catriona Morison and Claudia Huckle) try to warn Siegfried too. By the time that truth is out – Hagen having extracted from Brünnhilde Siegfried’s vulnerability and fatally wounded him, then interrogated him to bring back the memories lost when Siegfried drank the love-potion – Siegfried is dead, and Brünnhilde is finally acknowledged  as his wife by Gutrune and Gunther.

And so to her big aria, in which Goerke radiated her joy at being re-united in death with Siegfried as, on her horse Grane, she leaps into the pyre. Her eyes shone in the light of the crackling flames conjured from the RSNO by conductor Andrew Davies. Her voice soared with the ravens flying back to Valhalla. She exulted that the Rhinemaidens would only be able to retrieve the precious ring from the ashes – as more music poured from the RSNO with the floodwaters of the Rhine.

After Andrew Davies had returned to the stage for the RSNO and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Voices to acknowledge the applause, he collapsed in a chair with a smile – of relief? of triumph? – only to be urged back on his feet by the returning Cargill and Wall. It was a fitting way to end the journey.