Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Bye-bye, Bayreuth
Who needs nihilistic deconstructionist excrement?
Round about this time of year, I usually start thinking about checking in on The Bayreuth Festival — the annual bending of the knee to the controversial composer Richard Wagner. But as I thought about typing “2025 Bayreuth Festival” into Google, I suddenly realized that I really and truly did not care. I don’t give a damn about Bayreuth.
I have followed the festival from afar for years. Following my epiphany of disinterest, I started trying to recall the last news out of Bayreuth that wasn’t about completely nihilistic deconstructionist excrement. Nothing came to mind except nihilistic deconstructionist excrement. In fact, I think that should be the new motto of the festival. The Bayreuth Festival: Nihilistic Deconstructionist Excrement.
Instead of looking at Bayreuth, let’s turn our attention to Vermont. The only production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in the United States this year is at “Wagner in Vermont” by TUNDI Productions. I checked out the first act of Götterdämmerung on the YouTube.
Video:
TUNDI: Götterdämmerung (Act 1)
I have to admit that I was impressed. From what I could tell, this was exactly the type of Ring Cycle I would like to experience. The sets were simple but recognizable within the mythical world of the Norse Sagas that Wagner depicted. The costumes were also simple, but functional to the story. A production that is simple but functional is far superior to highly produced nihilistic deconstructionist excrement.
It’s difficult to evaluate singers over the medium of YouTube, but from what I could tell, both James Chamberlain as Siegfried and Jenna Rae as Brünnhilde were quite good. I found Chamberlain’s tone to be superior to most heldentenors I’ve heard of late. The singers in the other roles weren’t quite as accomplished, but they were still able to convey Wagner’s music.
I checked out the “About Us” page on the TUNDI website and found the following: “We are dedicated to performing music that summons the deepest emotions and the most burning issues of being human so people can experience transcendence, interact with the music and artists, and engage in their own creativity. We bring all-encompassing artworks to life so you can be immersed in the experience, lost in emotion, and create a fulfillment that is only available through music.”
Interesting. So, instead of “challenging” the audience, TUNDI is attempting to serve the audience, to let them interact with the music. Imagine that: an arts company that sees its role as a service to humanity.
TUNDI appears to be trying to uplift its audience with music. That’s a far cry from what’s happening at Bayreuth. Bayreuth appears to think its role is to beat the audience down with nihilistic deconstructionist excrement.
The TUNDI Ring Cycle runs August 18-24. https://tundiproductions.org/ring. The Metropolitan Opera is planning to produce a new Ring Cycle starting in 2027. I think I’ll skip it and try to go to Wagner in Vermont by TUNDI instead.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Bye-bye, Bayreuth
Who needs nihilistic deconstructionist excrement?
Bye-bye, Bayreuth
Who needs nihilistic deconstructionist excrement?
Round about this time of year, I usually start thinking about checking in on The Bayreuth Festival — the annual bending of the knee to the controversial composer Richard Wagner. But as I thought about typing “2025 Bayreuth Festival” into Google, I suddenly realized that I really and truly did not care. I don’t give a damn about Bayreuth.
I have followed the festival from afar for years. Following my epiphany of disinterest, I started trying to recall the last news out of Bayreuth that wasn’t about completely nihilistic deconstructionist excrement. Nothing came to mind except nihilistic deconstructionist excrement. In fact, I think that should be the new motto of the festival. The Bayreuth Festival: Nihilistic Deconstructionist Excrement.
Instead of looking at Bayreuth, let’s turn our attention to Vermont. The only production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in the United States this year is at “Wagner in Vermont” by TUNDI Productions. I checked out the first act of Götterdämmerung on the YouTube.
Video:
TUNDI: Götterdämmerung (Act 1)
I have to admit that I was impressed. From what I could tell, this was exactly the type of Ring Cycle I would like to experience. The sets were simple but recognizable within the mythical world of the Norse Sagas that Wagner depicted. The costumes were also simple, but functional to the story. A production that is simple but functional is far superior to highly produced nihilistic deconstructionist excrement.
It’s difficult to evaluate singers over the medium of YouTube, but from what I could tell, both James Chamberlain as Siegfried and Jenna Rae as Brünnhilde were quite good. I found Chamberlain’s tone to be superior to most heldentenors I’ve heard of late. The singers in the other roles weren’t quite as accomplished, but they were still able to convey Wagner’s music.
I checked out the “About Us” page on the TUNDI website and found the following: “We are dedicated to performing music that summons the deepest emotions and the most burning issues of being human so people can experience transcendence, interact with the music and artists, and engage in their own creativity. We bring all-encompassing artworks to life so you can be immersed in the experience, lost in emotion, and create a fulfillment that is only available through music.”
Interesting. So, instead of “challenging” the audience, TUNDI is attempting to serve the audience, to let them interact with the music. Imagine that: an arts company that sees its role as a service to humanity.
TUNDI appears to be trying to uplift its audience with music. That’s a far cry from what’s happening at Bayreuth. Bayreuth appears to think its role is to beat the audience down with nihilistic deconstructionist excrement.
The TUNDI Ring Cycle runs August 18-24. https://tundiproductions.org/ring. The Metropolitan Opera is planning to produce a new Ring Cycle starting in 2027. I think I’ll skip it and try to go to Wagner in Vermont by TUNDI instead.