Saw Die Walkure in HD....sorry the Met did not have all four in HD...praying for a summer opera encore of the entire cycle... re-reading Shaw's Perfect Wagnerite to set the mood ... wonderful...
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I attended the Met for the matinee performance of Die Walkure.
It was riveting. Five hours flew past like it had only been five minutes.
Great cast, as well. I don’t know why the Machine is criticized so much. It’s one of the best Ring productions I’ve seen.
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@David G.: Then you missed the first season of this production, when "the machine" malfunctioned multiple times, leading to all kinds of delays. It also made sounds that are definitely NOT part of Wagner's score.
Even now, the staging with the machine presents, at various times, a physical danger to the singers.
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I don't understand why you'd write about an opera conductor when there's so much more to be said about game of thrones, not to mention tiger Woods redemption in life achieved by hitting a ball into a hole.
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@poins The world is not just about GOT and Tiger Woods!
Sad that Mr. Jordan's conducting and the excellent performances have been ensconced in LePage's ludicrous production.
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@theresa the set is not as bad as you make out to be. Seen all 4 operas and at the start there were problems. But this time around the platforms have been tweaked. Does not seem to be any problems. Singers have also found that in the right places it adds to their voice being projected. Get over it
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@Graham Wright: I've seen this in person; the set is ridiculous and it distracts from the story being told.
LePage is a legend in his own mind, and IMO Gelb did this to satisfy his own ego, and NOT because it's the best way to present The Ring Cycle. Gelb wanted to make his mark, and he did, with this miserable & expensive set.
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The Met may have performed operas by Kurt Weill, but have they EVER performed an opera by a composer murdered in the Holocaust? I think not, and it is an outrage that they continue to perform Wagner year after year, without performing the music of the ultimate victims of his anti-Semitism.
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Dead decades before the Holocaust and the men who instigated it, Richard Wagner is no more the cause of this anti-Semitism than Vanessa Redgrave is of the PLO. He never gave money to the Nazis, he never even knew about Nazis back in the 1800's - he was just a political knucklehead who wrote stunning music. What about Bruckner's 7th, played at Adolf Hitler's death? What about "Born in the USA", played at Reagan rallies?
"Trust the art, not the artist."
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@Grittenhouse I recommend that you learn to separate the art from the artist. Tons of good have been created by those you would take pains to shun as persons.
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Was lucky to catch his 2013 Ring cycle here in Paris back in 2013. New Yorkers are in for a treat. Jordan is Swiss (and not French as is often assumed here in Paris) and seems as at home in Wagner as in Berlioz (a stunning "Les Troyens" thé other month).
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Thanks Devin Yalkin what amazing photography. I started attending met opera in the cinema with this production, with my daughter who was about five then, I loved the so-called controversial machine and the projections. We missed the recent Valkyrie screencast, such is life, but I hope they encore it over summer. I don't mean to give short shrift to the text of the piece, but to emphasize that the Times brings many talents to bear. In fact, I love how the text begins with a rehearsal pianist. Thanks!
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