Post by Tex on Apr 10, 2005 18:43:48 GMT -8
Saw Gotterdammerung -- last in the Ring Cycle -- better known as the source of all of John Williams' Star Wars music. This now completes my tour of Wagner's little stage show (which started 4 years ago), and thus begins my spiraling descent into bankruptcy (which will probably continue for the next 4 decades).
Still, at least I got my money's worth. At 16 something ass-numbingly long hours, the whole thing is about on par with Lord of the Rings, and, if done straight through, would take longer to listen to than Ben Stein's Audio Version of The Bible. If it's a damn good show, though, you tend to forget that. Thankfully, this one was put on by the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Production design was very post-modern -- anybody who digged Julie Taymor's TITUS would've felt right at home watching this thing. Very uptight. Very leather. Very ... well ... German. ;D Suppossedly this was also one of the "greatest Wagnerian casts of our time," so that only double-doubled my pleasure. And the special effects -- SUH-WEET! Giant skeletal dragons that glow in the dark, Valkyries on trapeze, meteors raining down from the sky. Fun stuff.
So why am I talking about this? If only because I'm sick of that goddamned religion thread, and I figure this is as good a distraction as any ... AND, because, to me, Wagner IS a religious experience -- the kind of which I'll never find equalled in any church. Seriously, I'd make love to that music if I could. I get lost in it. Become one with it. By the time the orchestra wraps up (6 hours later), I still don't wanna leave.
Anybody interested in filmscoring, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (and anything else 20th Century "artists" plundered from the Tetralogy), would do well to see the whole Ring Cycle in its entirety if you can ... it's expensive, but it's worth it.* Besides, as enthusiasts, we should all know where this stuff comes from... and this is pretty much the source of half the things we love: film, music, and Jerry Springer-esque psychodrama. ;D
* = Obviously, anyone interested in opera or classical music alone doesn't need to be told that this is the H-bomb of the artform.
[glow=red,2,300]PLJ[/glow]
Still, at least I got my money's worth. At 16 something ass-numbingly long hours, the whole thing is about on par with Lord of the Rings, and, if done straight through, would take longer to listen to than Ben Stein's Audio Version of The Bible. If it's a damn good show, though, you tend to forget that. Thankfully, this one was put on by the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Production design was very post-modern -- anybody who digged Julie Taymor's TITUS would've felt right at home watching this thing. Very uptight. Very leather. Very ... well ... German. ;D Suppossedly this was also one of the "greatest Wagnerian casts of our time," so that only double-doubled my pleasure. And the special effects -- SUH-WEET! Giant skeletal dragons that glow in the dark, Valkyries on trapeze, meteors raining down from the sky. Fun stuff.
So why am I talking about this? If only because I'm sick of that goddamned religion thread, and I figure this is as good a distraction as any ... AND, because, to me, Wagner IS a religious experience -- the kind of which I'll never find equalled in any church. Seriously, I'd make love to that music if I could. I get lost in it. Become one with it. By the time the orchestra wraps up (6 hours later), I still don't wanna leave.
Anybody interested in filmscoring, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (and anything else 20th Century "artists" plundered from the Tetralogy), would do well to see the whole Ring Cycle in its entirety if you can ... it's expensive, but it's worth it.* Besides, as enthusiasts, we should all know where this stuff comes from... and this is pretty much the source of half the things we love: film, music, and Jerry Springer-esque psychodrama. ;D
* = Obviously, anyone interested in opera or classical music alone doesn't need to be told that this is the H-bomb of the artform.
[glow=red,2,300]PLJ[/glow]