I've just got back from a lovely night at ENO's Valkyrie.
I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. The music is sumptuously gorgeous, especially once the orchestra warmed up half an hour into the first act.
The singing was patchy, but I loved Brunnhilde, so much so that I can't decide whether I want to be Brunnhilde or be her best friend. The Ride of the Valkyries was glorious homoerotica.
More in the morning when I've thought a bit.
UpdateConsidered piece
Germaine Greer had an essay in the programme called Fathers and Daughters
In the third act Wagner goes right to the heart of the intense and mysterious relationship between fathers and daughters, which is not so much Oedipal as Electral (and electrifying)...Wagner writes the only love scene in non-pornographuc literature between father and daughter...the usual (male) Wagner commentators...have not suspected that many of the women in the opera house feel their cheeks grow hot and their hearts pound, as a fantasy so secret they hardly knew they entertained it is acted out on stage......To send her into unconsciousness, he needs to do only one thing, to kiss her...Many a woman in the opera house will need the few minutes that remain before the house lights come up to regain her composure.
Er, no, Germaine. You've got it wrong again. Perhaps this is almost on a par with the 'genital mutilation is empowering and liberating' statement (I paraphrase...).
There were a few but not many empty seats, mainly odd ones just dotted around.
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