Our in-house soprano: The Magic Flute

The Unnecessary Children's Book Sequels That Never Were contest runs until midnight (Eastern Standard Time) of April 10, 2009.


Lucia loves Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, i.e. "The Magic Flute." Her favorite aria is "Der Hölle Rache" from the second act. You may hear Erika Miklosa sing it here and Sumi Jo sing it here. You may also watch and listen to Lucia sing a snippet of it here:



The costume is one that I found a few weeks ago at a local toy-shop for half of its original price. The original price was outrageous for the quality of the material and stitching. At half the price, it's still an indulgence, but worth the money in terms of the play value. I'm glad that Lucia doesn't know what the aria actually means. For her, the aria is joyful.

Siegfried on the rocks

(1) Brunnhilde goes grocery shopping for Siegfried after he wakes her up on the rock surrounded by fire. Brunnhilde, now mortal after Wotan "kissed away her godhood," is fine with no longer being a Valkyrie. Domestic bliss is hers, now that Siegfried is here.


(2) What? Siegfried wants to leave Brunnhilde on the rock while he goes off on adventures? Siegfried wants Brunnhilde's armor for himself, and is leaving her a cursed ring in exchange? No, Brunnhilde, no! Rise up, give Siegfried what-for, and then go off on your own adventures. Forget the lout. If you want a hero worthy of you, ride East and meet up with Manas or Atilla the Hun. Don't let the confines of historical accuracy restrict you. Love is timeless, eh?

Tonight, Bede and I are going to see "Siegfried." Our friends who were supposed to go had the misfortune of their car breaking down on the way back from their trip. Plus, they're tired from travel. The good news for them is that on Thursday night, when they attend Götterdämmerung, the Norns will offer a recap the first three installments of the Ring Cycle.

Thanks to Isidora for the use of these photos. Isidora is a Yankee-Brit Valkyrie with a booming soprano and uncanny talent for making vegetables taste good. She also rides a motorcycle, and draws pretty pictures, though usually not at the same time.

Walküre/Valkyrie

Comedian Anna Russell has a spot-on parody of Wagner's Ring Cycle. Here's what she has to say about "Die Walküre," the opera Bede and I saw last night:

In Part 2 you find Wotan wandering about on the earth, and he has a couple of illegitimate children by a mortal—Siegmund and Sieglinde-—whilst disguised under the singularly appropriate name of Wolf. These children become separated at birth, and Sieglinde marries a funny sort of a man called Hunding. He plays the Wagner tuba. [Plays.] He plays it very well. He also has an ash tree with a sword stuck in it growing through his living room floor.

Well one day who should turn up but Siegmund, and he falls madly in love with Sieglinde, regardless of the fact that she’s married to Hunding, which is immoral, and she’s his own sister, which is illegal. But that’s the beauty of Grand Opera, you can do anything so long as you sing it. And after having given Hunding a Mickey Finn so that they won’t wake him up, they certainly do sing it! [Plays and sings.]

Well when they’ve got that off their chests, Siegmund pulls out the sword that’s stuck in the tree that grows in the house that Jack—that HUNDING—built, and they run away together. Well of course when Hunding comes to he’s very annoyed, and he chases after them, and there’s a tremendous battle that everybody gets mixed up in. [Piano.] There’s Hunding dead. [Piano.] There’s Siegmund dead. [Piano.] Mr & Mrs Wotan have an argument. [Piano.] And Wotan’s furious with Brunnhilde.

He’s mad at Brunnhilde because he told her she was NOT to side with Siegmund...and she DID. So as a punishment he puts her on a rock and he surrounds her with impenetrable fire. And that’s the end of Part II. [Piano fillip.]

Wait until you find out what happens in Siegfried, the next opera. Anna Russell says of Siegfried's discovery of Brunnhilde on the rocks:

Well now he’s never seen a woman before, so he doesn’t know what she is...but he soon finds out...and they go in for some very competitive singing—the type of thing “anything you can sing I can sing louder.” And... [Plays and sings.] Oh, it’s terrific. I think probably she wins.

Once Bede and I recover from the two operas, I'll start production of Galatea's and Darth Phil's puppet show. It won't be as dramatic as the Ring Cycle, but that doesn't mean I won't try.

Rheingold

Thanks to a friend who worked for Seattle Opera, last night Bede and I attended the dress rehearsal of Das Rheingold, the first of four operas in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen music-drama. For what it's worth, my favorite part in the whole opera is the first 10 minutes, with the opening notes of the "greenish twilight of the Rhine." Listen for yourself, if you're interested. Pay no attention to the snobs: Lorin Maazel's The "Ring" without Words is a good, accessible introduction to the music. Later on, you'll get plenty of chances to hear Brunhilde sing "Hoyotoho!" as she leads her Valkyrie sisters in a triumphal post-battle parade.

Ten years ago, when I attended all four operas in the Ring Cycle, I had studied books and music samples obtained from the library, watched the Metropolitan Opera versions on video, and skulked around bookstores with my ears open to any conversation that might be Ring oriented. I planned which dress I'd wear each night. I was attending the operas with my friend Val, but I secretly hoped that I'd meet Mr. Seattle and we would kvell to our mutual love of the epic. As much fun as it was to throw myself into research, I would have appreciated ACD's excellent Sounds and Fury blog had it been around then. I would have read Wagner's Ring for the Willing but Perplexed:

"One's understanding of and response to the Ring would be deepened by such intimate knowledge [of the leitmotifs] most certainly, but some experts' notions to the contrary notwithstanding, Wagner created his music-dramas to speak directly to the emotions of a theater audience, none of whom he counted on to be trained musicians or musicologists. The leitmotifs will speak to you and work their magic whether you're aware of their individual presences or not, so you may put your mind at ease concerning them.

You'll have noticed that I included no storytelling notes in regard to the Ring Cycle. There is no way a mere synopsis or even a dramatic retelling can do justice to the work as a whole. Please just trust me on this one: if you have any interest in dazzling mermaids, scheming gods, strong & foolish heroes, as well as quite a few pyrotechnics, venture to wade into the opening notes of the Ring Cycle. Take as much time as you need. It's epic.