She certainly doesn't see herself remaining in the role of Woglunde, Wellgunda or Flosshilde.....rather as Erda, the earth mother! That however makes Trump into Wotan whom she warns to "foresake the ring". I would see Trump more in the role of Aberich corruptly obtaining the gold in the first place...and then losing it. The opera still h…
She certainly doesn't see herself remaining in the role of Woglunde, Wellgunda or Flosshilde.....rather as Erda, the earth mother! That however makes Trump into Wotan whom she warns to "foresake the ring". I would see Trump more in the role of Aberich corruptly obtaining the gold in the first place...and then losing it. The opera still has 3 operas to go to complete the Ring.....time for the "good gods" to sort out themselves and the world hopefully. in the meantime, the music is going to be highly "emotional".
The patron and financier of Wagner, the unfortunate Ludwig of Bavaria (and brother of Sissi the last Austro Hungarian Empress), came to a very sticky end when he really started to embarass the "powers that be" in Munich.
Much prefer Puccini and Verdi anyway! Not all the gods have gone of into the wild blue yonder however as we still have the god of money being worshiped everywhere.
As an opera fan, I felt like I "had to" do the Ring Cycle at least once and I fell in love with it. It's an immersive experience and incredibly moving. Also reactionary and slyly white supremacist, but overall it's (in my reading) about the struggle to remain relevant in a changing world, the evils of greed, and, above all, the deep ambivalence and emotional work of being a parent. I have now been to two complete cycles (Seattle and San Francisco) and will gladly do another when Covid gives me the opportunity.
I agree, Bayreuth would be the gold standard; 145 years of history! Not sure I could ever justify the trip just for that, but combined with other joys (read: things that would make my wife agree the trip was worthwhile) I might be able to do that. The problem being that for four or five days I'm sitting in an opera house and she is...doing what? Probably never happen.
it can be done mostly in the evenings and you get to dress up but 4-5 hours is a long, hard slog if you are not an afficionado. I must say , i had more fun doing a matiné of Madame Butterfly at Covent Garden or standing in the "gods" in Vienna to hear Ruggiero Raimondi in Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an exhibition" and being able to go have dinner somewhere after.
She certainly doesn't see herself remaining in the role of Woglunde, Wellgunda or Flosshilde.....rather as Erda, the earth mother! That however makes Trump into Wotan whom she warns to "foresake the ring". I would see Trump more in the role of Aberich corruptly obtaining the gold in the first place...and then losing it. The opera still has 3 operas to go to complete the Ring.....time for the "good gods" to sort out themselves and the world hopefully. in the meantime, the music is going to be highly "emotional".
The patron and financier of Wagner, the unfortunate Ludwig of Bavaria (and brother of Sissi the last Austro Hungarian Empress), came to a very sticky end when he really started to embarass the "powers that be" in Munich.
It would also behoove us to recall that, despite their erstwhile hegemony, the gods walk over the Rainbow Bridge into irrelevance.
Much prefer Puccini and Verdi anyway! Not all the gods have gone of into the wild blue yonder however as we still have the god of money being worshiped everywhere.
As an opera fan, I felt like I "had to" do the Ring Cycle at least once and I fell in love with it. It's an immersive experience and incredibly moving. Also reactionary and slyly white supremacist, but overall it's (in my reading) about the struggle to remain relevant in a changing world, the evils of greed, and, above all, the deep ambivalence and emotional work of being a parent. I have now been to two complete cycles (Seattle and San Francisco) and will gladly do another when Covid gives me the opportunity.
I find it a bit of a hard, long slog but would like to do it in Bayreuth if anywhere as there it's a "total happening" .
I agree, Bayreuth would be the gold standard; 145 years of history! Not sure I could ever justify the trip just for that, but combined with other joys (read: things that would make my wife agree the trip was worthwhile) I might be able to do that. The problem being that for four or five days I'm sitting in an opera house and she is...doing what? Probably never happen.
it can be done mostly in the evenings and you get to dress up but 4-5 hours is a long, hard slog if you are not an afficionado. I must say , i had more fun doing a matiné of Madame Butterfly at Covent Garden or standing in the "gods" in Vienna to hear Ruggiero Raimondi in Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an exhibition" and being able to go have dinner somewhere after.
The closest I will ever come to Bayreuth is my enjoyment at reading Artur Rubenstein's experience of attending in his "My Younger Years".
a very bad deal nonetheless and he didn't keep it long. He ended up with no love and no gold!
Boy, is that ever a potent metaphor!