GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “GOTTERDAMMERUNG”
PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
I’ve been watching this recently staged version of the Wagner Ring cycle all week, and now have a renewed appreciation for the quote, attributed to Mark Twain, that “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” But this climactic installment contains most of the fiery drama, as well as the Wagnerian anthems adopted and adapted, with very different results, in Birth of a Nation, Apocalypse Now and other films. In this finale, which translates as Twilight of the Gods, Siegfried and Brunnhilde (Jay Hunter Morris, Deborah Voight) see their love burn with a white-hot intensity — and that’s not all. Check local listings.