The curtain call from last night’s DIE WALKUERE in Seattle

Two down and two to go—I am halfway through the Seattle RING cycle, and so far it has been a terrific journey!  This RING is the last one produced by Seattle Opera’s long time general director Speight Jenkins (originally from Dallas, by the way) and a fitting tribute to his thirty years here.

This is a sumptuous production, with hyper-realistic scenery designed by Thomas Lynch, and detailed, naturalistic acting wonderfully staged by Stephen Wadsworth.  It is in almost every way the diametric opposite of other recent RING cycles, which have been abstracted or pigeon-holed into “concept” productions, which however intellectually stimulating, often fall short of telling the story in a comprehensible way. Read more →