Day 6

 Last night was the SFO  production of Die Walkure, and true to form, the production was innovative and enlightening.  In previous productions that I have seen, the setting was rather traditional, i.e. a sort of woodland/Germanic scene.  This production was very intent on presenting the opera as occurring in two separate time frames, one temporal and one eternal where the gods play.  The opening scene is a sort of 1920's kitchen (with an ash stump, of course).  As that is cleared away during act 1, leaving just the  ash stump.  Act 2 is set in a stylized forest scene where gods and humans interact but on different levels, and Act 3 is Valhalla, more of less.

Interesting directorial innovations include the presence of shrouded, mythical figures representing unspecified forces playing on the scene.  There is  kind of permeable boundary which allows for them to enter the scene and disappear.  Although it was a little unnerving at first, I found it an interesting addition which emphasized how much of the action was out of the control of the human characters.

As predicted, it was three-and-one-half hours and got us back at the hotel and 1:30 am.

The morning with Oliver was about unpacking the groups reaction to the production which was diverse but mostly positive,  Again, there was a short introduction by Oliver to "The Marriage of Figaro", which is tonight's performance. 

We have "fee time" until 7:00 pm which we gather to pick up our tickets for this evening.  There are no meals being provided, but that is hardly a hardship since we've been eating very well, all week.  I may venture downtown on my own to visit one of the smaller museums, or take a nap, or just do a little shopping.  I guess that's what free time means. 

My attempt at filling up the afternoon with productive exploration was a failure.  As soon as I stepped outside and took a few steps, it was obvious to me that my knee was not going to tolerate even a modest walk.  When I was  here, last year, on several occasions, I tried to tour the cathedral, but always at the wrong times.  Today, since it is so close to the hotel, I thought I'd try again and was able to spend some time there.  There is what appears to be an appendage to the main church which is actually the original building to which the larger edifice was appended and the original altar reredos has been preserved as a feature of a prayer chapel.  I've attached pictures of some features of the cathedral, beginning with the original structure and expanding into the present parish church.