Die Walkure - Amazing Moments

Photo Credit: Ken Howard

I spoke with Bonnie Wyora,  Charise, Wyona and Moiya since the opera.

We saw the same opera in different ways

All of us agree -- some operas should not be missed, and are worthy of second viewings.  Of course, I will probably say that about ever HD Met performance.

In this opera, besides the fact that the music was so beautiful, I want a chair just like the one Frika is sitting in as she negotiates her moral compass with Wotan.

The image only shows the ram's horns in the bottom part of the picture, but  the front legs of the chair are each a ram -- now there is a stunning piece of furniture!

There is a better image of Frika in that chair in the New York Times slide show, but that image wouldn't copy here.

Photo Credit: Ken Howard

As well, I was sitting too far away from Wyona in the theatre to poke her, but when I saw the flowing skirts on the Valkyeries, I wondered if Wyona had been the wardrobe mistress and designed the flow and softness of those dresses with one of her recent Vogue patterns.

The skirts were engineered so that they would slide up and down the planks of wood, as well as carry their softness and style across the stage. You could have blown me over with a feather when I figured out that the burlap bags at the feet of the women were filled with the bones of dead warriors!

This was my first time to hear Wotan's farewell song to his daughter as he banishes her to live in a Ring of Fire.  That was a wonderful moment in the opera.

I will be back when she can be rescued -- by her hero who will appear in the next part of this cycle.

She will have to live there in that ring of fire until at least the fall opera season.

Phot Credit: Ken Howard

Or longer, if I stay with the mythology and wait until her hero is born and grows up.

One can see her in the middle of this picture -- just a little white spot.

Hanging upside down, the wings from her hat, folded back over her eyes and fire flashing all around her.

I love reading the reviews of the performance -- both before I go, and when I get home. 

If you plan on seeing the Encore of this opera, here are links to some of the reviews I read.

Brünnhilde’s Trials Beyond Wagner’s Dreams

The Stars Who Don't Sing
 
The Ring: Part Two Storms into the Met

As I was skimming through reader comments on some of the above reviews one person wrote, "I'll be sure to buy the DVD when the MET makes it available. While we're watching it, I can tell my grandchildren I was there that day."

I am one step luckier.

One day my grandchildren will say, "I was there that day.  I watched Maestro Levine conduct his 2,000 plus opera at the Met, I heard Wagner's Der Walkure for the first time, I listened to Placido Domingo act as the master of ceremonies and I topped up with candy and pop."

Arta