Wagner’s “Ring”: The Journey Begins
I have been going to opera throughout my adult life, but I am (almost) ashamed to say that I have never experienced an entire “Ring” cycle live. I am about to remedy that deficit. This afternoon, I begin the trip, with “Das Rheingold,” at the Metropolitan Opera. This opener in Wagner’s four-parter is a way of getting one’s toe wet before taking the whole plunge: the opera lasts a mere two-and-a-half hours, about half the duration of the subsquent “Die Walkure,” “Siegfried,” and “Gotterdammerung.” Why did I decide to jump in this year? It probably has to do with the fact that I’ve been studying German, and can now make out at least some of the “Ring”‘s libretto without English translation.
