Congratulation to Stefan Margita to his performance.

A packed house experienced inspired singing last night as the San Francisco Opera launched its latest iteration of Wagner’s Ring cycle. Falk Struckman was a standout as Alberich, a tragic figure who only temporarily gains power by renouncing love; convincingly evil when he holds the power of the ring, but desolate when he’s reduced back to his powerless denizen of the underworld. Štefan Margita was excellent a wily but wise Loge, right hand man to Wotan, whom he despises. Andrea Silvestrelli and Raymond Aceto won the audience over as the sympathetic giants Fasolt and Fafner. Orchestral playing was superb albeit just short of flawless. Sometimes the powerful singers were drowned out by the orchestra - a function of my Grand Tier location? Incidentally, seat springs poking up made for torture during during 2.5 hrs sans intermission. One expects high tech stage effects these days, but we got cheesy snake projections and limpid storms. And what’s with the LED floor panels? Blah!