So the Little Opera That Could did this weekend…the Long Beach Opera had its first presentation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle; in the “chamber” version first performed by the Birmingham Opera.

Disclosure: I’m a board member at LBO, and so obviously not totally objective. But damn, it was good. It exceeded my best hopes for what it could be, and it managed to deliver a series of moments of breath-taking musicality and theatricality.

Patterico, who joins me in both annoying Michael Hiltzik and enjoying classical music – and who knows far more than I do about both – came along (we brought him to The Sorrow of Young Werther last year, and managed to pique his interest), and came away a musical purist impressed.

There were four operas presented over two days, and for me the excitement of seeing this come off – on a budget that would barely buy bottled water and snacks for a major L.A. Opera production – was blown away as Wotan prepared to cast his spell on his daughter Brunhilde – leaving her to sleep on a rock surrounded by fire awaiting her hero’s kiss – and Wotan (Rod Nelman) and Brunhilde (Diedre Palmour Gorton) managed a scene of such emotional impact that I realized that I wasn’t breathing as I watched them; I caught myself, looked around the theater, and realized that no one else was either.

For the LBO Executive director (and musical director, and conductor, and bottle washer) Andreas Mitisek, and all people who did the work, on and off stage, a triumph. For myself, the feeling of pride that the guy who puts the air in Valentino Rossi’s tires must have…to have been a small part of something wonderful.

There’s an interesting series of posts that may come out of this – on “putting on a show” and what that involves and means, about the satisfaction of seeing art made, and about the role of Wagner in “bad Philosophy” – but right now, I’m just happy.

There is one more performance next weekend, and if you like music, you ought to make it a point to go. Tickets can be had at the LBO website – www.longbeachopera.org. You’ll regret it if you don’t go.