The Never Ending Story
Jennifer is a huge fan of opera. Over the years, Jen had dragged Tom to the Met to see a variety of classic works…The Marriage of Figaro, Faust, Carmen, etc. Jennifer gets a kick out of it when she catches Tom accidentally humming the themes from Tosca.
This week has been the Met’s “Ring Festival”. The Ring is a series of 4 Wagnerian operas…about 20 hours in all. Over four days.
So, yes, that is the inside of the Metropolitan Opera House…looking out upon daylight…as these operas start at 6pm…and go to midnight.
Tom must really love Jennifer.
OK…so I just spent 19 hours last week at the opera watching Der Ring des Nibelungen. To prepare for a night of opera, I usually read the synopsis of the story on the Met’s website…in case I fall asleep and miss anything. I was pretty amazed to finally learn the story…and see how familiar it was.
Das Rheingold: http://www.metopera.org/synopses/rheingold.html
Die Walkure: http://www.metopera.org/synopses/walkure.html
Sigfried: http://www.metopera.org/synopses/siegfried.html
Götterdämmerung: http://www.metopera.org/synopses/gotterdam.html
Similarities to well known stories include:
A cursed ring of power
A dragon protecting a ring
A wretched creature who obsesses about the ring
A hero with a magic sword…that is welded back together from shattered pieces
Twin brother and sister who are seperated at birth
…who later meet and have romantic feelings
A bratty hero who never fails
…and is told he was borne by only one parent
A hero who is trained by a dwarf-like creature
A sword handed down from father to sun
A confrontation between family members…with only one of them knowing the relationship Special musical pieces are played whenever a particular character is referenced. A special theater had to be built for the new sound effects.
And these were all performed in 1874…
The bad news is that this means Darth Vader is going to be turned to the dark side by having his memory erased. Pretty lame.
Tom