Ghost in the machine

Zachary Woolfe in the New York Observer:

Live by technology, die by technology: The shocking malfunction at the end of last night’s performance, which kept the gods from entering Valhalla, recalled the technical mishap during the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics in February, when a column didn’t rise to light the Olympic flame. On both occasions, as awkward seconds became uneasy minutes, we were left wondering if technology had fully betrayed us-staring, last night, at slowly morphing colored bars that recalled nothing so much as a screensaver.

Happy 64th birthday opera director Peter Sellars.