The Brass Came Out To Play

Opera North performed Die Walküre at Nottingham's Theatre Royal Concert Hall today. The Performance started at 3 pm and finished shortly before 9 pm. We did have two intervals, one of which was one hour 15 minutes long to give us an opportunity to get something to eat, and probably too for the benefit of orchestra and singers.

This is how they got us back into the auditorium. Some brass players from the orchestra came into the foyer to play the opening bars of the Ride of the Valkyrie as the two minute warning.

I can honestly say that the opera produced the most breathtaking and thrilling live music I have ever heard. Although it's a concert performance with the singers using a strip of stage in front of the very large orchestra (five harps), large screens at the back of the stage display complementary graphics, AND the words in English AND provide a commentary on the plot. This makes the story so understandable and easy to follow. Although we were there for six hours, it didn't feel like it.

The production has been filmed for showing on TV, so watch out for it. And BBC Radio 3 will broadcast it live from a venue in London (I think), between 5th-10th July. If you can, I urge you to watch and to listen.

Still Siegfried on Thursday, and Götterdämmerung on Saturday to go. So far, The Ring has been a magnificent experience.