009: Go to the opera

When people say, "It's not over until the fat lady sings," the fat lady of origin is Brunhilda from Wagner's Ring Cycle. I went to see the first of the four operas that comprise the Ring Cycle, 'Das Rheingold.' The story of the Ring is based in German folk mythology and has considerable overlap with Norse and Tolkienian tales.

Normally when seeing a musical performance I listen to the score beforehand, but I went into this one completely fresh. The best-known music in the Ring Cycle is 'Ride of the Valkyries,' which opens the second opera, while the first has an interesting prelude and is sprinkled with the leitmotifs that occur throughout the Cycle.

Das Rheingold is German for "The Rhine Gold", a mythical treasure guarded by mermaids in the Rhine river. The story opens with Alberich, a gnome, trying to capture the beautiful mermaids who tease and evade him. The set itself is an extraordinary line of rotating columns which tip from horizontal to vertical to fulfill the requirements of the scene.

In this picture, Wotan and Loge are suspended from wires and traverse the columns, which are lit to appear as steps. In the Rheinmaidens scene, Alberich struggles up sloping columns while the suspended mermaids swing away on wires, spotlights and projected bubbles tracking their every move.
After Alberich learns of and steals the Rhine Gold (which has magical properties) the scene changes to a mountaintop where we meet the gods. Wotan(Bryn Terfel) has promised the giants who built him a fortress the hand of his sister in law, Freia. When they show up to collect, there's a protracted argument and the giants agree to return with Freia if Wotan and Loge bring a ransom of Rhein Gold. 
The story continues in much the same vein, but really opera isn't about the story so much as the spectacle. The music and themes are created with magnificence in mind, and the huge stage and set all contribute to the sense of occasion; we are witness to heaving and tumultuous events on a grand scale. The opera ends with the ascent of the gods in Valhalla, and as the actors walk up a stunning rainbow waterfall the rainbow leitmotif rings out.