Walkure starting Act II

Act I of Walkure is now done- brother and sister have fallen into each other’s arms in libidinous passion to the words “this sword that I now hold,” which is definitely in the top 20 best unintentional laugh lines in the Ring. All props to DB- the Bayreuth orchestra...

Prologue complete

The curtain calls for Das Rheingold are finished, and the genius of our plan is apparent. While a live Ring would certainly  be cooler, a DVD Ring among friends is an epic idea. In a laid-back setting, all present feel free to heckle or cheer as appropriate. We can...

Das Rheingold- Flying Frogs

The definite visual highlight of Das Rheingold is not the hydraulically-operated world tree, not the transformers-robots-in-disguise giants nor is it the Oakley sunglasses on Wotan. It’s the stuffed frog they throw in the air when Alberich changes shapes. In such a...

Wagner’s Ring-in-a-day begins

Das Rheingold begins…A gang of happily insane musicians today embark upon a quest to view all of Wagner’s Ring on DVD in one day. We’ve procured a projector and our hosts have been baking bread since 3 AM. We’ve got fruit, coffee, juice, junk food, veggies. Episode...

So you come up for air and…..

So, you come up for air and…… Alan Gilbert has been appointed Music Director of the New York Freaking Philharmonic. I’ve played for Alan and assisted him at the Cincinnati Symphony, and, most importantly, he seemed to dig my conducting at Aspen some years...