ABSTRACT
Act II of Wagner's Siegfried : a slight, muscular man in brown clothing glides across the forest floor, a slanted disk lit in a mottled, bluish-green. Feathers extend from his graceful fingers. Crouching on an animal skin, stage right, Siegfried notices the dancing forest bird. They begin a musical game on the centre platform: the boy steals a reed from the creature's beak, then blows upon it to imitate the birdsong. The bird beckons the youth closer, coquettishly enticing him to stroke his quills. The boy takes up his own horn, but as he copies the bird's melody, the free-spirited leitmotif transforms to assume a heroic air.
