The Ring and You

My friend Andrew pointed me to WNYC’s special about Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Wonderful.

Imagine This American Life condensing 20 hours’ worth of epic Wagnerian operas into 58 minutes and you get the idea. Smart, fast-paced, and slightly droll in the Ira Glassian style, the hour-long show includes interviews with writer Alex Ross and singer Jane Eaglen, who recently performed A Sea Symphony with the RPO and ROS in Eastman Theatre. It also includes an interview with a guy grocery shopping for Ring-related items.

Host Jad Abumrad calls the show “The Ring and I,” but it’s not about him. It’s about the stories. He ties them up in pop culture references (to Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings" and "Apocalypse Now"), mythology (about Valhalla: “It was a real estate deal”), and music. A lot of music.

Make time this weekend to listen. And tell us what you think.

P.S. It’s the opera story seen in the classic 80's TV commercial,
"You sank my Battleship!"