Wagner: Götterdämmerung

So yesterday was the 2nd concert of our Wagner program. The first concert was in a Casino here in Graz. Yesterday, we took a 3 hour bus ride to do a run out concert in the town of Millstatt, which is situated by the Gurktal Alps. We performed in the Millstatt Abbey, which was established in 1070. It has been renovated, some of the dates I saw on the building dating back to the 1500's and even 1600's.

Main Hall Sanctuary

The side wing chapel

Well, as usual I could go on just talking about the city, the church, or everything else really. But this concert was one of my favorites, for one reason: getting to perform with Linda Watson, Wagnerian Soprano.

This concert was difficult in that it was Wagner: Which means a lot of notes (many unplayable), not a lot of time to do them, and it's all thick with emotion. Basically, it's really hard work. I like Wagner, I do. But, after the second rehearsal was almost over, I was less than enthused. Probably more a combination of being exhausted than anything to do with the music, but I was ready for this concert to be over. Then, came our last piece, Brünnhilde's final aria from Götterdämmerung and in walks Linda. During the aria, Brünnhilde "calls out to Loge to set fire to Valhalla and destroy once and for all the gods who have caused her such pain. She then lights Siegfried's funeral pyle, mounts her house, and rides directly into it." 

Hearing her sing made it even more difficult to play Wagner, because I wanted to just listen. Talking with people afterwards, many of us experienced similar reactions. We didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Whatever we felt, what we heard was other worldly.

It's moments like that, as a musician, that keeps you coming back. Even when it's hard, being a part of that "other worldly experience" makes all that difficult passage work worthwhile and is soon forgotten.

Well, that's all. Here's a few more pictures around the town. Also, I snapped a picture of a statue of Lorenzo Da Ponte, (my favorite) Librettist to Mozart. I don't know if that means he just lived here for a while or if he wrote at all while he was here. But, either way, that's pretty cool.

waiting for the start of the concert

The Millstatt Abbey from the outside

inside the courtyard