Has anyone ever watched or listened to the entire Ring of the Nibelung?

Remember Free Willy? Sounds like Keiko under water.

I have, a couple of times. (listened a couple of times, saw Siegfried live)

My opinion (I am not an expert in any way, but I like music):

The chorales and instrumentals are absolutely top-tier amazing.

The arias are (almost always, but rare exceptions) tedious, and better described as "impressive" than "musical."

And the recitatives are ... tedious beyond words and best avoided -- just learn the stories and follow the lyrics translation and try not to let your ears bleed too much. (Wagner sort of doesn't really have recitatives, but he's got monologues and conversational duets that go on forfrickingever.)

Great stories and great moments within the operas, though

Be careful if you go looking for live performances though. It's a trendy thing among directors to make the whole setting completely surreal and bizarre.
Here's a sample of one of the tamest and best examples: (the big stage machinery is supposed to represent flying horses)



Still a hell of show.

Not Wagner, but this is great too

Yes! I'm a huge Wagner fan. The Ring Cycle is humanity's greatest artistic achievement imo

I've only seen Rheingold live (Munich last year) but I know the whole piece front and back.

Wagner is different, but he was easily the most skilled composer in history. He uses a series of leitmotifs more so than a standard collection of arias/recitatives and he got so advanced by Gotterdammerung that you can make the argument that it's not even in a particular key at all.

Anything in particular you want to know?

I vehemently disagree with your position that Wagner was the most skilled composer in history. You even stated the reason why I don't hold Wagner in particularly high esteem when contrasted to other composers with these words:

quote:

---

He uses a series of leitmotifs more so than a standard collection of arias/recitatives and he got so advanced by Gotterdammerung that you can make the argument that it's not even in a particular key at all.

---

If this is the criteria used to establish a composer as the most skilled in history then I submit that Wagner must take a back seat to the American composer, John Cage.

I will say, however, it can take a while to 'get it'. I came to Wagner after years of listening to late Romanticism (Mahler, Strauss, etc.) and years of music theory instruction. If you're interested in Wagner, I'd say give Elektra a shot first. It's basically baby-Wagner in 90 minutes. A masterpiece in its own right, but it's easier to digest if you're going in blind.

quote:

---

Has anyone ever watched or listened to the entire Ring of the Nibelung?

---

Hasn’t everyone?

You’ve waited your whole life for a thread like this.

While I don’t understand most of your post, I’m impressed by your level of understanding and description . It’s pretty cool.

quote:

---

I don’t understand a single post in this thread

---

It's opera. No one in their right mind understands it, much less likes it.

Much more enjoyable is an evening at the symphony directed by Ranier Hersch: