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A scene from Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” (courtesy Metropolitan Opera)
Richard Wagner’s epic The Ring is a collection of four operas that have inspired concert goers, film makers, film composers, artists of all manner and even soldiers in combat for 150 years. It’s twenty hours of music that encapsulate legend, love, war, incest, racism and even the creation of the universe.
Productions of this mammoth work are legend in themselves. People plan for years and travel thousands of miles to attend. The mother of all Ring productions can be experienced at a specially built opera house in Bayreuthe, Germany, where Wagner staged his original production. You’ll need to buy your tickets early, maybe a couple of years early. Seats are running about $2000 each, per opera. Yes, a trip for two including air fare should be easily doable for only about $25,000 🙂
In case you don’t have the 25K, here’s plan B:
Find a quiet hour, brew a cup of tea, pull up a comfy chair and point your browser to the WNYC public radio podcast The Ring and I. It’s a fabulous production from WNYC’s Radio Lab. I’m a regular listener to this fine series, and this particular podcast is one of the best shows about classical music I’ve ever heard. You can download the mp3 here!
It’s extra credit for all Alpert Studio students, and a great way to introduce your non-musical friends to opera. Let us know what you think!