Siegfried - Royal Opera, Covent Garden
Tonight’s First Night of Siegfried had to be one of the most fantastic staging and singing ever of Siegfried’s forging song. Andreas Schager’s characterisation of the wild boy Siegfried smelting and forging using machines that look Heath-Robinson but appear convincing in their metalworking functions was utterly compelling. He gave us muscular singing, sparks from the anvil, juggling with forging hammers and joyous characterisation with the vitality of the youth who knows no fear. One of the great Siegfrieds and a highlight of the whole cycle.
Cilaos crater hike, Forêt du Grand Matarum GR R1 - Parc national de La Réunion
Piton des Neiges (3070 m.), view from Cilaos (1150 m.)
View of Cilaos village from GR R1. Indian Ocean horizon beyond the crater.
Hiking up the inside of the volcanic crater from the town of Cilaos on the GR R1 long-distance hiking route. This, the Forêt du Grand Matarum, is primal tropical forest, never harvested. But all the species have arrived from somewhere since the volcano went quiet so there’s a hotchpotch of trees and plants we know from Europe plus many from elsewhere.
More photos: Cilaos crater hike, Forêt du Grand Matarum GR R1 - Parc national de La Réunion
