Fun with Wagnerian Opera

Das Rheingold war wunderbar!

Aaron and I took the Kennedy Center Shuttle from Foggy Bottom and picked up our tickets at the main box office. We had to be back there at 6:15 for a pre-Das Rheingold lecture, so we had dinner at a place called 600 Restaurant across the street which, incidentally, is in the Watergate Hotel. The place was still empty since we were having dinner kind of early, but the service was great.

After dinner, we walked back over to the Opera House and attended the free lecture. I liked it; it wasn't what I was afraid it was going to be, which was a plot summary. The guy actually did a short analysis of Wagner's style and how he applied the theme of the ring throughout the first installment. He played excerpts of the theme from a CD and had us read along with the music.

We got a thirty-minute break between the lecture and the start of the performance, and many people took the opportunity to use the facilities - a good plan before a two-and-a-half-hour opera with no intermission. Aaron and I took some pictures of the outside of the building.






I have no idea why I'm making that face.




You can see the Watergate Hotel from the back patio.


You can also see Georgetown off in the distance.

The opera itself was thrilling. I tend not to like operas done with modern sets and costumes, but I loved what they did with Fasolt and Fafner. At the end of the performance, the general director came out to say a few words - Plácido Domingo! I was four rows away from him - so close I could see the wrinkles in his face. I actually saw him before he came out. Aaron and I were at the very end of the row on the right, so I saw him standing with a microphone behind the curtain as everyone took their bows. He announced that Heinz Fricke, the conductor, was celebrating his 60th year as a conductor. He was given a bouquet of flowers by someone offstage and said a few words before the curtain came down again.

Every time I go to the symphony or the opera, I start to miss music again - almost makes me want to join a community orchestra when we get to Bern...