Today was the "Live in HD" broadcast of the Met Opera's Götterdämmerung. This is easily one of the most emotionally taxing (and yet emotionally rewarding) pieces ever written. It lost some of its visceral power in the theater; the flicker of the screen and the canned sound don't really do the artwork justice. That said, I really like this production; it's much better than the "light saber" production I saw last time. There aren't many good recordings of the complete Ring; there are a few decent audio-only recordings, but very few that attempt to capture the stage. Of the ones I'm aware of (and I've done my research), this will easily be the best when it is released commercially.

The prior installments of the cycle deal with topics like the limitations of the rule of law, the difference between mental and physical maturity, the corrupting nature of power, and the conflicting responsibilities of family. Wagner apparently decided he'd taken it easy in the first three, and holds back nothing in the last opera. It takes on humanism vs. deism, the difficulty of ascertaining guilt, the friction between romantic and fraternal love, the mutually exclusive responsibilities of duty and passion, and plenty more.

These universal themes are important reasons why the Ring cycle continues to be so powerful. In no way can one boil down any part of the operas to a simple moral or lesson. But, there are a number of rather obvious points on the surface of Götterdämmerung. First, love doesn't guarantee anything, but it can help keep life in perspective and bearable. Second, nothing is certain: neither Wotan's spear nor Alberich's ring are infallible, and even the powerless can overcome them in the right situation. Third, there are no easy answers, but sometimes knowing what is coming causes despair and submission when continuing to muddle through could make all the difference.

Just as true today as in 1876.