Dutch treat
To wind up this summer’s Wagner festival on Unnatural Acts of Opera, La Cieca plans to play the composer’s first “canonical” opera, Der Fliegende Hollander. But which live performance, she wonders. That’s where you come in, cher public. La Cieca lists below a selection of exciting live Hollanders, and you get to vote on which you would most like to hear. Voting will be open until 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 28, at which time La Cieca will declare a winner and proceed to post the performance.
UPDATE: Voting is now closed, and the winner is the 1955 Knappertsbusch performance from Bayreuth. Here is the final tally:
Be sure to listen in to this special “democratic” edition of Unnatural Acts of Opera.
Sorry if I’m remembering incorrectly, but isn’t there an act of Meistersinger that lasts six weeks? I am almost certain there is. Well ok perhaps slightly less.
The very last act of the Ring is the one I find leanest and meanest.
The second act of Meistersinger and the first act and prologue of GD are each around 2 hours. Rheingold is over 2 and a half hours. While I love the piece, I do find that half-way through Scene 4, I start to get uncomfortable in my seat.
OK, a confession. At the risk of committing sacrilege, I must admit that the time between the Presentation of the Rose and the trio can oftentimes seem an eternity for me. Thank God for “Hab mir’s gelobt” (the Marschallin not the blogger), but it is divine redemption after a stint in purgatory.
Nothing in Wagner could induce seat squirming like that seemingly forever scene in Don Carlos where Posa and King Phil stand there singing a version of Help Me Help You.Just a personal reflection.