Tannhäuser: fünf uhr

I'm reconstructing this from my intermission notes, now that I'm back in Dublin and can finally sit down at a desk to write. The opera that I went to Tuesday at the Staatsoper, Tannhäuser (Wagner), lasted for five hours, including intermissions. And, seeing as how I don't speak German or know the libretto by heart, it was a long five hours. I actually managed to read all of Act III in the intermission, about 15 minutes. I didn't really understand it, but could pick up on the flow of the dialogue and what was happening when. I think the last act is probably the most exciting anyway, but it also helped that I was just fully engaged, as opposed to the first act when I drifted in and out.

From here I can mostly just see the timpani and a few horns. The highlight thus far has been the opening of the first act, in which the orchestra narrated Tannhäuser's movement away from the world with tableaux of weird sea people.

I must say, it seemed like the staging went downhill after that. It's almost like they had a few pyrotechnics then lots of down time until the next run of great sets.

The opera audience is a spectacle in itself. The man near me was weirdly shouting near the start of Act I, and people are leaning over the balcony (third balcony) rails, or sometimes sleeping. So far from the audience at the symphony--somehow more elitist but less interested.

The second act, in which Tannhäuser competes in a song contest (at the Sängenhalle, no less), had an entire chorus dressed up as audience members facing out. It made me think of Midsummer Night's Dream, or any number of other things, just the oldest trick in the staging book. But it was good, and it worked, especially from my point of view just looking at the people around me. I should also say that each act fewer and fewer people were in the rows--apparently not everyone can take five hours of Wagner. Which, considering everything by Wagner is at least that long, makes me concerned as to why they came at all. One lady I saw rushed out with an empty bottle of wine right at the end of Act I to go to the bar and get another bottle of wine to bring back to her seat. Overall, it was not a spectacular opera--I also could only see about half the stage--but then again I've never been to the opera before.

The Seattle Opera is putting on the entire Ring cycle in the fall of 2009. That one is a series of four operas, taking about 15 hours total. I want to go.

Pictures coming.