"Life is travel and change. Such pleasures I cannot give up." (Wotan, Das Rheingold, Scene 2)
I don't get chills much at music events anymore, but when the Met Orchestra launched into the opening bars of Wagner's Das Rheingold Saturday afternoon – with its overlapping strings mimicing the waves of the Rhine River – I began to tremble. It had been five years since I last heard this music live – which sets the table for the entire 20 hour saga to come – and I could barely hold back the tears. Moments like these are precious and few, and you want to grab onto them while you have the chance. They are the signposts of a life well lived. (For those unfamiliar, you can read the Met's synopsis here.)
Long live the Met. And especially you, Jimmy. (Cast pics below.)
Lisette Oropesa (Woglinde), Kate Lindsey (Wellgunde), Tamara Mumford (Flosshilde)
Gerhard Siegl (Mime), Garrett Sorenson (Froh), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Freia), Charles Taylor (Donner)
Franz-Josef Selig (Fasolt) and John Tomlinson (Fafner)
Yvonne Naef (Fricka)
Richard Paul Fink (Alberich)
James Levine