Wagner: I don't want maidens in paradise...'

From The Guardian comes this interesting preview of Wagner's Ring Cycle, currently playing at Covent Garden, that points out the contemporaneity of the drama. Says the reviewer:

The third time I went to see Die Walküre, it was the performance at the Royal Opera House on July 8 2005, the day after the London tube bombings. London's streets seemed empty but the opera house was packed. At that moment, it was particularly wonderful to be engrossed in this tale of a man who says: I don't want maidens in paradise - I want love here on earth, and a woman who responds by saying: I won't carry out the orders of the god my father - I will go over to the side of the human.

Wonderful! As the previewer says, "If we allow him to, Wagner truly has the power to surprise us." [Read here of the 16-hour non-stop Wagner marathon embarked on by one enthusiast in front of her radio.]

LINKS: Wagner's women - Guardian
'Make the nasty music go away' - Guardian

TAGS: Music, Religion