rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (06/20/85)
Greg Paley has already commented more eloquently - and from a far
greater depth of musical knowledge and experience - than I could
on the San Francisco Opera's recent Wagnerfest, but I still want
to add my two pfennigs' worth.
Little did I realize, as I snored through the Chereau-Boulez
"Das Rheingold" on PBS two years ago, that I would become another
helpless victim of Wagnermania, daily besieging the box office for
turned-in tickets, waiting in line for hours to get standing room
at a 5-hour opera (:-(). My efforts paid off, however, and I got to
see - experience! - all four operas, from the gala opening night of
"Das Rheingold" to last night's overwhelming final performance of
"Goetterdaemmerung." Despite physical discomfort - no seat is comfortable
after 5 hours - I was mesmerized throughout, even through the so-called
"dull parts," which, by the miracle of supertitles, have been rendered
comprehensible and dramatically vital.
Now, when I close my eyes, all I see are images of gods, earth-mothers
and mermaids, giants and dwarves, heros and dragons, great deeds and
folly, love, greed and betrayal. But above all, my head is filled
with glorious music. For the last three weeks it has accompanied my
every waking moment, transforming the mundane and banal into the
mythical and heroic.
--
rod williams | {ihnp4,dual}!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw
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pacific bell | san ramon | california