Wagner’s megaopera took roughly thirty years for him to realize from conception through to scoring the final bar of Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods). It represents one of the longest sustained creative efforts in the history of our species.

Here’s the vulgar one-liner: The Ring Cycle is about how love overcame power and destroyed the gods, who are now dead.

That’s James Conlon‘s LA Opera production of Das Rheingold, the first part of the four-part cycle, which started February of this year. Opera hedz hate it because the puppets and lightsabers make it accessible to people who wouldn’t otherwise go, destroying their sense of cultural superiority.

Normally I wait until I’m done things to stick them up here, but the beast is fifteen hours long and in German — I’m taking my time. It’s such a huge work that I guarantee you’ve heard at least part of it before (maybe not the part requiring eighteen tuned anvils). I’d also wager you’ll find the story oddly familiar, especially if you’re a Tolkien fan. If anyone ever hears of, or wants to attend a production let me know — I’m in.

I wonder how cheaply you could do the thing French-New-Wave-style?