But the earth goddess, Erda, tells Valhalla’s CEO that federal charges loom, and he gives the goods back to the Giants. Like any savvy plutocrat, who can’t imagine digging his way out of debt the hard way, that is, by doing some real work, Wotan tricks Alberich out of the gold. No matter, the characters in Wagner’s fantasy world want the thing at any cost, though it inevitably spells their doom. The problem with that claim is that the ring keeps getting ripped off the holder’s finger with alarming ease. Alberich’s brother Mime, and their proletarian underlings, the Nibelungen, have also fashioned a shape-shifting helmet from the booty and the eponymous ring that supposedly confers absolute power on its wearer. In the meantime, a greedy dwarf called Alberich has plundered the Fort Knox of the Germanic Tribes: the Rhine Gold. Super rich, but cash poor, the Gods hope for a bailout. The Giants threaten foreclosure and Wotan attempts to pay them off through a bit of white slavery, delivering the fetching Freia-a nifty bit of wheeling-and-dealing since she’s his sister-in- law- to the sex-starved contractors who’ve done the heavy lifting, the Giants. Like most dreams, theirs are built on credit. They need cash to feed their appetite for the good life. The problem is they can’t afford it: granite counter tops, a ten car garage, and in-home stereo system that would make even Bill Gates jealous. The World’s Board of Directors-the CEO of the Gods, Wotan-has just finished their dream home, Valhalla. If ever there were a grandly scaled operatic vehicle appropriate to our current predicament it would be Wagner’s Ring. With the West burning and the East Coast bathed in smoke-soaked sunsets, I reminisced about a summer Götterdämmerung in Seattle. I was unable to attend their Wagnerian smorgasbord “God and Mortals” this week as the pared-down season closed. “Viral load” is practically a synonym for “night at the opera.” Here in Upstate New York the excellent Glimmerglass Festival near Cooperstown has adapted to the continuing pandemic by taking stringent safety measures and putting on compilations, truncations, and new works that don’t extend beyond their self-imposed 90-minute limit. Brevity and social distancing are not part of the experience.
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