Today: Most Tragic Romance
Die Walkuere's Siegmund and Sieglinde.
Let's face it: they're doomed from the word go. Twins? Okay. Lovers? That's less good. And yet of course they fall for each other: they've been separated for years, aren't entirely sure who the other is, and are both stuck in deeply traumatic situations. Sieglinde sees this man, her brother, as her salvation; Siegmund sees Sieglinde as the embodiment of (I believe) the life he can't have: beautiful and secure. And yet she's in dire straits. We already know that he likes to help people in dire straits. And neither of them has experienced any tenderness in who knows how long. They need that, and I love that for one night, at least, they were able to experience happiness.
Still, incest is incest, which makes this a hopeless, tragic romance. But leave it to Wagner to make it sound really, really gorgeous.
Seriously, I saw the Met broadcast and couldn't even talk after the first act. It was like being hit over the head with a board. I still can't get over the intensity of their music.
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