If you love opera & Star Trek (and maybe Meatloaf), click on the photo!
The world begins with one note: an E flat.
One note and a horizontal, undulating beam of blue light begins "Das Rheingold," the first installment in Richard Wagner's epic "Ring" cycle. The prelude, or "Vorspiel," is my favorite opening piece of music, a gradual accumulation of strings bubbling steadily upwards, reaching a fevered pitch that can then only be reigned by the crystal-clear voices of three mermaids, swimming in mid-air, bubbles coming from their lips.
Confused yet?
Think "Lord of the Rings," but with gods, and devils and people singing in German.
