also, he should have hired a librettist

So, I got this phone call that basically consisted of, "My wife and I are going to Götterdämmerung and we have an extra ticket. Would you like it?" And, really, there's only one answer to that.¹

I've seen the entire Ring Cycle before, about four years ago. I had a professor in the pit that was able to get me tickets to the dress rehearsals for the first two, another friend with an extra ticket for the dress rehearsal of the last one... and, uh, I may or may not have snuck into the dress rehearsal for Siegfried. It was four operas in the space of one week, and I was utterly exhausted by the end. Wagner is one of the only composers I know of that causes hangovers.

But, one of the nice things about the Ring is that if you only make it to the last opera, you're fine, because they will helpfully recap everything that happened before. Sometimes numerous times. This is why I walked into the hall at 6pm and walked out at about 11:30. There are two intermissions, at which they sell alcohol, and this is why. Thanks, Wagner, for assuming your audience had the memory of goldfish.

Anyway, let's start with the technical difficulties.

So, we're in the scene changing music for Siegfried's Rhine Journey. The curtain's down, the orchestra's playing. The orchestra reaches the climax, and then... trails off mid-phrase. The curtain is still down. Silence. In the pit I can just make out the conductor, talking into some sort of phone or walkie-talkie. More silence. The audience starts to fidget. Finally, the conductor picks up his baton, the orchestra backtracks a few measures and starts playing again, the curtain goes up, and it's business as usual.

Except then it happens again, in the opening for the second act. Finally, before opening the third act, they send some poor fellow out on stage to tell us that apparently all of the scene changes are computer-controlled², and that the computer in question had started crashing, and they were terribly sorry but were also confident that the problem had been fixed... and I assume it was, since we didn't notice any other mishaps.³

There was another charming incident on stage, after Siegfried has disguised himself as Gunther, wrested the ring back from Brünnhilde, sent her back into the cave to pout, and is now gloating.⁴ And as he's doing so, he is casually tossing the ring into the air and catching it. Except he drops it, and has to chase it across the stage.

Also, I do not understand why it is so incredibly impressive to see them lead a horse across the stage. Yes, yes it is a real live horse. There it is, on the stage. Why are you all applauding the horse? Is there some form of elaborate trickery required to get a horse on stage that I am not aware of?

There was also a nice moment when Brünnhilde says something to the effect of "Yes, I know that sword well. I also know its scabbard," and the entire audience snickered, because we are all twelve.⁵

I am, however, a little disappointed in the ending, which in this case was portrayed by lowering a translucent screen on which they then projected the image of flames. Because I feel that if your opera ends with, "and then everything caught fire, the end," that there should be real fire involved.

So, good times.

You may have noticed that I haven't commented on the music. You must be a very observant person.

1. I may possibly have answered before he finished talking.[↩]


2. I didn't know this, but if I had thought about it I probably would have guessed.[↩]


3. Insert your computer joke of choice here.[↩]


4. Look, just go read the synopsis.[↩]


5. Also, I don't believe a scabbard is used anywhere in this particular production. because he just ties it to his back with a bit of rope. But, you know, semantics.[↩]