Wagner’s Ring Cycle

That norns reference by Badiou puts me in the mood to listen through the Ring Cycle again. Žižek is on record as being a big fan, and man so am I.

I suppose my ranking of the four Operas is fairly conventional– I like Die Walküre the best and Das Rheingold the second best.

However, I can’t help cringing with embarrassment whenever we get to “The Ride of the Valkyries”, which has been ruined for me by pop culture overexposure. For me, the peak of the entire cycle is the first act of Die Walküre, which has perhaps the most ominous musical opening and (for me at least) most beautiful ending of any act in opera. Put a couple of really good singers in the Siegmund/Sieglinde roles and that can be an unbelievably moving piece of music. I’ve misplaced my old LAURITZ MELCHIOR recording of it, but the last 20 minutes or so are stunning, and I probably just need to go back to iTunes and I’ll find it in a hurry.