and Die Walküre....
Sep. 12th, 2012 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castiron(Castiron arrives home from errand.)
Spouse: You haven't missed much; they haven't figured out they're brother and sister yet.
***
Castiron: Ewww. This opera is making me glad that my sons don't have a sister.
***
[Spouse comes back from putting short people to bed.]
Castiron: You've just missed a half hour of Wotan and Fricka arguing. There's one for dangerous jobs -- Marriage Counselor to the Gods.
Spouse: Why does Fricka have Madeline Kahn hair?
Castiron: Oh, like in Young Frankenstein? I think it's just a reflection. [waits for next closeup] No, it's a hair ornament.
Spouse: Why did Mel Brooks never do a takeoff on the Ring?
[later]
Castiron: Yeah, she's figured out that Wotan's been sleeping around a bit. His child support payments must be amazing.
Spouse: Eh, he's a god; he can get away with it. Hey, with the eyepatch, Wotan looks like that hangman that keeps appearing in Mel Brooks movies. [a minute later] It's good to be a god.
[later]
Spouse: Why haven't the Muppets done the Ring?
Castiron: Miss Piggy as Fricka; she wouldn't even have to act.
Spouse: I can't quite see Kermit as Wotan, though.
Castiron: Janice as Brunhilde?
Spouse: "Oh, like, wow, great battle!"
Castiron: Gonzo and Camilla as Siegmund and Sieglinde?
[later]
Castiron: Is it just me, or does Brunhilde look like Maggie Smith?
Spouse: She must not have been very busy.
Castiron: Yeah, she probably just decided that if she was going to sing in a Wagner opera, she'd better do it now before she doesn't have the stamina.
***
[We both take a break; Castiron goes outside for five minutes to take out the rest of the trash and comes back in to discover that the battle scene at the end of act II is half over.]
Castiron: That figures. Forty minutes of expressive singing, and then as soon as I leave the room, the plot happens.
***
Spouse: What are those, the guns on a battleship?
Castiron: Valkyrie seesaws?
***
We quit for the night shortly afterwards, so I have no comments on the magic fire-surrounded rock, which we'll presumably see tomorrow anyway.
I do have to say, though, that Anna Russell's analysis of The Ring of the Nibelungs is an excellent preparation for watching the real thing. Plot synopsis, major leitmotifs, and a recognition that this really is over-the-top stuff.
Spouse: You haven't missed much; they haven't figured out they're brother and sister yet.
***
Castiron: Ewww. This opera is making me glad that my sons don't have a sister.
***
[Spouse comes back from putting short people to bed.]
Castiron: You've just missed a half hour of Wotan and Fricka arguing. There's one for dangerous jobs -- Marriage Counselor to the Gods.
Spouse: Why does Fricka have Madeline Kahn hair?
Castiron: Oh, like in Young Frankenstein? I think it's just a reflection. [waits for next closeup] No, it's a hair ornament.
Spouse: Why did Mel Brooks never do a takeoff on the Ring?
[later]
Castiron: Yeah, she's figured out that Wotan's been sleeping around a bit. His child support payments must be amazing.
Spouse: Eh, he's a god; he can get away with it. Hey, with the eyepatch, Wotan looks like that hangman that keeps appearing in Mel Brooks movies. [a minute later] It's good to be a god.
[later]
Spouse: Why haven't the Muppets done the Ring?
Castiron: Miss Piggy as Fricka; she wouldn't even have to act.
Spouse: I can't quite see Kermit as Wotan, though.
Castiron: Janice as Brunhilde?
Spouse: "Oh, like, wow, great battle!"
Castiron: Gonzo and Camilla as Siegmund and Sieglinde?
[later]
Castiron: Is it just me, or does Brunhilde look like Maggie Smith?
Spouse: She must not have been very busy.
Castiron: Yeah, she probably just decided that if she was going to sing in a Wagner opera, she'd better do it now before she doesn't have the stamina.
***
[We both take a break; Castiron goes outside for five minutes to take out the rest of the trash and comes back in to discover that the battle scene at the end of act II is half over.]
Castiron: That figures. Forty minutes of expressive singing, and then as soon as I leave the room, the plot happens.
***
Spouse: What are those, the guns on a battleship?
Castiron: Valkyrie seesaws?
***
We quit for the night shortly afterwards, so I have no comments on the magic fire-surrounded rock, which we'll presumably see tomorrow anyway.
I do have to say, though, that Anna Russell's analysis of The Ring of the Nibelungs is an excellent preparation for watching the real thing. Plot synopsis, major leitmotifs, and a recognition that this really is over-the-top stuff.