Finishing The Ring

What is the moral of the ring?  Gotterdammerung manages to clear up all the odds and ends of plot while not clearly closing off the meaning, which is great and leaves much food for thought.  Although it seems to me that if you are beset by three ladies on the road giving you advice in chorus, three being the magic number, you had better listen.  

I'm hooked--I am already thinking about the next one.  I was disappointed not to have brought my camera to take a photo of us all out celebrating afterwards.

The Ring and I

We're doing the Kirov Ring, the so-called first cycle, and I purposefully haven't looked at any reviews until we finish it tonight.

For me, this is something of a discovery of Wagner. I had watched parts of the Met cycle that was televised in the 1980s, but I didn't get through it and I remember being quite puzzled by Siegfried. I think I might have watched Rheingold and then skipped over Die Valkyrie to watch Siegfried, which wouldn't have made much sense. First of all, I'm sure I got lost in the story, and then I was a teenager, and I don't think I quite got what the Siegfried/Mime scene that begins Siegfried was about, on one level--being a teenager, and an annoying one at that, and then doing some of the things you do to grow up: figuring out who you are, leaving the people who raised you, finding love. Seeing all of the operas in order, live, is a powerful experience. Last night, after the week-long hiatus (Rheingold and Valkyrie were last weekend, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung this weekend) I felt a wave of pleasant nostalgia for the set pieces (oh, our giant humanoid forms! oh look, the little creatures with colored lights for faces, or as someone said in intermission last weekend, the teletubbies!), the characters, and especially the themes, which seem like old friends. It's a remarkable achievement, to create something on this scope, and I'm glad I've found it for myself.

The singing has been good and Siegfried last night really showcased the Mime. But the production leaves something to be desired. The blocking is often inexpressive, and the acting ranges from good to tired. The gesturing in particular The gesturing in particular got on my nerves at the beginning, but it has fallen off as the story has moved from the realm of the gods and giants to the actions of humans on earth, and others who chose to move among them for whatever reasons (the dwarfs, the Wanderer).

I look forward to tonight, though I gather it's the longest one. To prepare, a day of planning good snacks and getting a little exercise and rest.

Poor Languishing Blog

I have been busy, it's true, but that's not a good enough excuse. I started this blog before I had a website thinking it would be a quick way to post photos and thoughts, which it is, but learning basic web design and keeping my site updated has taken more of my "getting the word out on the internet" time than I thought. So the quick recap, since last September I've been directing full time, working on the very exciting project La Didone for The Wooster Group. Also Monteverdi's Orfeo at Stony Brook, David Del Tredici's Dracula (reviewed in The New York Times), and Francesca Caccini's Liberazione, both in New York and Boston. Phew! Then I took my first trip to Europe in seven years with The Wooster Group, followed by a series of vacations. (!)

I plan to get back in the habit of posting, because there's lots going on. We're "doing" the Ring, for one thing, attending the first cycle of the Kirov Ring at the Lincoln Center Festival this year. It's my first Ring and I've only seen one Wagner opera live before, and I am hooked. More on that later, and yes, there are things to say about the gesture.

But here's a chip off the old block photo to keep things interesting. Adam Griesbach, my littlest nephew (littlest for now, in a few short weeks he won't be the youngest) on the dock at our family's cottage on Kashe Lake in the Muskokas. I spent a wonderful week being completely relaxed and unplugged and playing with Peter, James and Adam. Adam sings constantly. And of course he is gesturing. Much to the delight of the opera aunts.