Man, did I have a blast last night.  We attended the final performance
of Washington National Opera's Die Walkuere.  This was the first installment
of the Ring that I've seen in live performance, and now I'm looking
forward to seeing the whole thing; sure wish I hadn't missed last season's
Das Rheingold.  After last night, at least Die Walkuere is a lot more
clear.

The seemingly immortal Placido Domingo was Siegmund.  The program
notes said Domingo knows 124 rolls (his Web site says 123), either
one of which boggles the mind (see below).  Before the curtain went up,
a WNO functionary came out and said PD had a head cold that had moved
down to his throat; to groans in the audience, she said he would do
his best but it was possible he would not be able to finish.  Pro that
he is, the 66-year-old Domingo made it all the way before falling to
Hunding's sword near the end of Act 2.

The sets were fantastic!  I am very stodgy when it comes to the classics,
especially ones I haven't seen before; I want to know why they have
endured for all these years.  So when, at the start of Act 2, Valhalla
was portrayed as a New York City skyscraper, and Wotan was dressed in
a modern business suit and looking like Tony Soprano as Chairman of the
Board, I was not optimistic.  But it worked, as did the modest attempts
to make the dialogue a bit more modern (the phrase "boggles my mind" and
"that Valkyrie gang" were seen).  Speaking of Wotan, Alan Held was
spectacular.  Other modern touches to contrast with what I assume was
a rather traditional Act 1: The Valkyries looked like motorcycle babes,
and the projected background for their "Ride" was a series of jet fighters
and helicopters.

This being Washington, D.C., it might not surprise people to hear that
in the audience just two rows ahead of us were Donald Rumsfeld and Newt
Gingrich.  Now before you sneer, let me say that not only were there no
photogs or hangers-on, but they stayed til the end.  With Die Walkuere
lasting four hours, forty-five minutes (two intermissions), that
shows...something.

Mitch Friedfeld

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