The horned hats continue to be a a hit with the crowd. I hear comments like, “Nice horns,” or “I’m obsessed with your hat,” and the more demonstative woman who asked if she could touch it and began rubbing my head all over like she was on ecstasy. I take my picture with some other hat wearing fans. At this point it really feels like we have all been through something special together. I wish I gathered them all up for a group picture. Maybe at Bayreuth.
Just before Siegfried I have a fortunate encounter with the principal flutest of the Met, Chelsea Knox. She generously listens to me as I go on and on about Elektra and Tosca and how me and Chaltin have been on this amazing opera adventure. She shares that some of her favorites this season were Mefistofeles and Cendrillon.
She offers to give us a backstage tour if we meet her at the pit during the intermission. We never have a chance to make it down there in time being so high up in family circle. Still, I can imagine how cool it would have been to walk back stage with our horns and to see the magic behind the curtain. Next time.
It’s always nice to have a personal connection to a player in the orchestra, like my friend Rob who plays clarinet. It really helps me isolate their instrument from the others and after meeting Chelsea that happened a lot thru the ring: Like hearing the flute through the forging of the sword, the bird in the woods (that moved me so much I thought it was the spirit of his mother), and then when Siegfried crosses over the fire.
Siegfried is so much fun, maybe my favorite of the four.
Siegfried begins with Siegrfried scaring Mime with a bear he has brought home. Mime who has raised Siegfried after his mother died is only raising him so that he will kill the dragon guarding the treasure. Mime is unable to re-forge the broken sword nothing. Siegfried takes his own destiny in hand and forges the sword himself. He fights and defeats the dragon who warns him of the curse of the treasure and tasting the dragons magical blood Siegfried can suddenly understand the bird who tells him about the treasure and also about Brunnhilde. More than that he can hear Mimes thoughts and when Mime tries to poison him, he knows before hand and kills him first. Off to find Brunnhilde, The wanderer (Wotan) confronts him but Siegfried shatters the staff that earlier broke Nothing. When Siegfried see’s Brunnhilde in the flames he at first thinks she is a man because he has never met a woman before, but when her Helmut comes off he instantly falls in love. She also falls in love with him, even though she knows she will have to give up her immortality to be with him.
Notes on the production
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Composer………………………….. Richard Wagner
Siegfried………………………….…. Stefan Vinke
Alberich………………………….….. Tomasz Konieczny
Mime……………………………….….. Gerhard Siegel
The Wanderer (Wotan)…..…. Michael Volle
Fafner…………………………………. Dmitry Belosselskiy
A Woodbird…………………..…… Erin Morley
Erda………………………………….…. Karen Cargill
Brunnhilde………………………….. Christine Goerke
Conductor………………………..…. Philippe Jordan
Stage horn solo………………..… Erik Ralske
Metropolitan Opera
4/13/19