# A Wagner Ring marathon



## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

Circumstance has it that I happen to have today and tomorrow off work with no plans or obligations until tomorrow evening, and am in the mood for some Teutonic epicness. :tiphat: So in a burst of inspiration I've decided to tackle Wagner's entire Ring in a day...and a half.

Ok ok, I know I'm sort of cheating. But I didn't wake up early enough, and don't plan on staying up late enough to have time to make it through the entire cycle in one day. It's 8:30am now and am planning on starting Das Rheingold in half an hour or so. Besides, I'm not talking about putting on the music in the background all day. No no. I intend to read along with the libretto and give it my full attention, so I'm going to need breaks between acts and time to eat meals between operas. But I am going to make my way through Siegfried by tonight, and finish off with Götterdämmerung tomorrow morning. Which is still going to be quite different from how I've been forced to consume this work in the past, usually each individual opera on four separate days. So I'm excited. 

The choice of the cycle plays a small role in this as well of course. For my journey I'm opting for the 1955 Keilberth recording, which according to iTunes clocks in at about 14 hours and 4 minutes. So definitely on the swifter side, and perhaps not quite as impressive as say, Barenboim's Bayreuth ring which is apparently 14 hours and 48 minutes long. But you know what? After 14 hours I'd be feeling that extra 44 minutes. 

I'm curious if anyone here has actually been able to pull off a true Ring marathon and listen to the entire thing in a single day. Would it be something you'd ever even consider?

My fate awaits me, fellow Wagnerians. I'm off. :trp:


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

OMG no, nor could even think about it. My closest to that was a live Ring in 6 days - Rheingold in Monday evening, Walkure on Tuesday, Siegfried on Thursday and Gotterdammerung on Saturday - and even that seemed like a marathon!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I've done 2 of them in one day.
But try to do only one a day.
Too many wondrous things to digest and enjoy!


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I am currently on my 22nd Ring of the year, which also happens to be the 1955 Keilberth.

I have never listened to the entire Ring in as little as two days. This year the quickest I've done is six days.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Yeah, two days for me too. Life got in the way!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

As a Wagner novitiate I was crazy enough to try it but don't recall whether I ever really did it. I listened to so much Wagner back then that its all a blur. Now I rarely try to get through a single opera at a sitting. I've even caught myself pushing the pause button to go to the bathroom. Don't get old.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I did it at least once, maybe even twice. Mine was the Solti/Wiener Philharmoniker Ring. But I find 4-day Ring marathons, one opera per day as Wagner intended, to be much more enjoyable. When you try to listen to it all in one day, at some point is is just too much, and your attention begins to wane. As Itullian put it so well, "too many wondrous things". Anyway, I wish you much joy in your undertaking.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Don't get old.


I used to think like The Who - 'hope I die before I get old'. Now I think -'hope I get old before I die!'.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> I used to think like The Who - 'hope I die before I get old'. Now I think -'hope I get old before I die!'.


Some days I don't care one way or the other. On days when the anti-Wagner militia make trouble here I'm with The Who.


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