As many of you know, I host an annual party on Memorial Day Sunday.
This annual Baldwin Wagner-RingDay Party is now approaching -- this coming Sunday from sunrise till sunset.
If you haven’t heard about RingDay before, here is a little information.
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“What is RingDay?”
A celebration of Richard Wagner’s (German composer, 1813-1883) birthday (May 22). A celebration of his most massive work, The Ring of the Nibelung. A chance to see/listen to the entire Ring. A chance to ignore the entire Ring. I’ve done this every year since about 1974 (except for 1984). It has been described in the book All Around the Year—Holidays and Celebrations in American Life, by Jack Santino.
“How Do You Do That?”
At approximately 5:50 a.m. (sunrise?), in my living room, I will turn on a video recording of the first of the four Ring operas. The entire Ring will then play straight through until whenever we finish. We’re usually done around 9:30 p.m.
“But I Hate Wagner”
No problem. You can really only see/hear it in the living room. If you don’t want to hear it, just wander into the dining room, the computer room, or the patio/backyard. Socialize and party.
“But Doesn’t Ignoring Wagner Defeat the Purpose?”
Well, yeah—kinda. But the actual purpose of RingDay isn’t to listen to the Ring <gasp!> I’ve probably heard the entire thing fifty or more times! The real purpose is to get together with friends—you.
“But... What do you do for fifteen hours?????”
Not too much, in the morning. Light breakfast (bring yours along). Mixing up and baking the four “ring” (ie. Bundt) cakes. The traditional Walkure shower (for me, anyway). And the rush to prepare the baked cakes with candles.
The lighting of the birthday (ring) cakes with the appropriate number of candles, during the playing of the Magic Fire Music. Okay—We fake most of the candles now. This year, we’d theoretically cram 199 onto the cake. We’ll just stuff on as many as feels safe. This should all happen around 12:30 or 1 p.m. We generally then send someone out for lunch subs (or bring your own lunch). Sometimes, however (when no one is around for the Magic Fire Music), we postpone the candles until the fire scene in the third act of Siegfried (around 3:30 or 4).
Afternoon? The traditional Siegfried snooze. Some people find Siegfried boring(?!). Some people prefer playing board (bored?) games. But then, this is when we usually have the children begin the construction of the small cardboard Valhalla for later.
We’ll fire up the barbeque around 5:30 or 6 p.m for the potluck dinner. By now the children should be well along on Valhalla, and drawing or pasting images into it.
Amazingly, as we approach the final act or two, people actually being filtering into the living room and watching the performance!
Around 9:30, we light the Valhalla sitting on the barbeque grill, watch it burn—and return to the living room to watch Bugs Bunny in “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “The Rabbit of Seville”… and possibly listen to Anna Russell explain the Ring.
By then we’re usually ready for a good night’s sleep!
“So What Do I Need To Do?”
Show up, if this appeals to you (preferably let us know ahead). Socialize. Bring food. Hang out. That’s about it. Don’t have to do much else.
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