Das Rheingold Opens The Met Tonight

It's 6:39 a.m. - wonder how long the standing room line is at The Met Opera House for tonight's opening of Wagner's Das Rheingold.  You can still get a seat, however, for the paltry sum of $1400.  But if you're a real New Yorker, you'll stand for the whole damn thing - outside, either on the Josie Robertson Plaza or in Times Square.  See you there.

Comments

[michael]

$1400 seriously?! osipova's premier in romeo and juliet had scalpers selling $60 dress circles tix for $120, and i already thought that that was horrible! in any case, i hope you enjoyed the performance!!

[Haglund's Heel]

Yes, Mike, it was a grand performance and worth the challenges of getting through - the pouring rain and a 2-3/4 hour opera with no intermission.

It seemed like the Wagnerian weather of the evening inspired even more New Yorkers to come to Lincoln Center to view the outdoor simulcast of the Met Opera's premiere of Das Rheingold. Three thousand chairs were set up for those who had lined up at the box office on Sunday to get their free tickets. Haglund wasn't one of them. But he enjoyed the evening from several different vantage points - all of them in the drenching rain. First, he planted himself on a chair among the plantings of the patio between the Met and the Juilliard. The sound was fine but the view of the screen was so far from the side that it skewed the body shapes of the performers. Then when the rain let up, he moved to a standing vantage point between the Met and Avery Fisher Hall. When the rain started again, he moved under the entry way of Avery Fisher. It was very crowed; no one was willing to leave this event.

The production was huge in every possible sense of the word. All of the singers were magnificent, but Haglund's favorite was bass-baritone Eric Owen whose theatrical skills were fearsome! At times the production seemed like an odd mix of traditional and overt high-techiness just for the sake of high-techiness. At the very end, the rainbow was streaming lights like on a video game. The serpent was the best serpent Haglund has ever seen. It surely was bigger than any dinosaur that ever roamed the earth.

- Haglund

[michael]

oh man, it is getting harder and harder to imagine these scenes in my mind. and to think that i consider the met and avery fisher hall my second home in new york (school being my first home, haha). gosh, opera fans are really wild compared to ballet fans. it was possible to actually purchase tickets for the spring gala of ABT, but it seems even you were not able to score a ticket for the met opera gala (or are they not for sale?)!

[Haglund's Heel]

The Met Opera gala tickets were a bit pricey for Haglund's wallet.

True, opera fans are wild and crazy and can turn on you like a pitbull with pinched ears if they don't like your singing. Ballet fans are much more "civilized" and "tolerant" – perhaps.

[Marie]

agree with you-eric owens stole the show.

[Haglund's Heel]

Hi, Marie. He certainly was wonderful.