The interpretation’s destination comes into view in the last scene, although from what the vidop conveyed I was not entirely sure of it until reading Sharon’s cheery explanation in an interview transcript. Despite what they say and what the music tells us, Elsa and Ortrud are sisterly conspirators under the skin, fighting for freedom from patriarchal dominance, especially as represented by this blue-collar technician who won’t even say who he is. Always Believe the Women. Elsa, now in a nice orange dress and looking, if I may say so, like a normal woman, does not die, but heads bravely toward the upstage horizon sporting a backpack Lohengrin has given her. Ortrud lives on, too, having pretty much stage-managed the whole dénouement. As Lohengrin departs like a whipped dog, Gottfried enters in the form of an intimidatingly ugly vegetating Green Man, ready to rule over Brabant. He will have to start from scratch, inasmuch as all his potential subjects are stricken dead en masse. Electrocuted, I assume. Altogether, a rollicking good time, and a bit kinky, too—although whoever wrote that score had no clue.

Coming attractions: Of Tristan und Isolde, Sharon says, in part, that it is “the ultimate work about the unresolvable tension between what is visible and what remains invisible,” and that it is “the hardest work in the traditional repertoire to stage.” And of Der Ring des Nibelungen, that “With a performance time of sixteen hours and music that sounds like nothing else ever written, ‘Der Ring‘ remains an unparalleled achievement in theatre.” Can’t argue with that. Should be a laff riot, though with opera, you never know.

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NEXT TIME: On New Year’s Eve, the Met will be presenting the premiere of of a new production of Verdi’s Aïda, directed by Michael Mayer, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and sung by the first of three full casts that will be heard over the season’s seventeen performances of the work. I’ll be seeing it on January 7, and will report back on January 17. A recent complete recording of the work will also be considered.

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