If you find Wagner so long-winded that you wriggle, fidget and long for a drink, I know the feeling. A friend has a special Wagner wrist-watch that discreetly lights up so she can check the time. Another friend told me that the thing is, Waggers takes his time, doesn’t rush things – tantric opera. The trouble is that when the really good bit arrives I’m often asleep. But this evening I am wide awake.I am watching Das Rheingold on BBC Four in a concert performance by Opera North; multi-tasking. It is thrilling and if you’re scared of Wagner try it at home where you can stretch your legs, write a blog post, make a cup of tea, or something stronger. No need to pay some £200 for a stalls seat with a poor sight line and endure people consulting their ‘phones and whispering. This is a top Cheap Lane recommendation.
Incidentally, over at the beleaguered ENO, they are not doing everything wrong. As part of their mission to attract younger audiences they drastically discount prices and recently, for Jonathan Miller’s ever-green Rigoletto, invited the young audience members to an interval talk and meet the cast after the performance. It did the trick for at least one attendee who is now keen to go back and see more. Poor thing, she doesn’t know how many turkeys they put on.
In Jonathan Miler’s ENO production, the Duke of Mantua puts a coin in the jukebox before singing this in Act III. Here is a more traditional rendition.
‘Wagner’s music is better than it sounds’ – Mark Twain