Andreas Conrad (Mime) and Alan Held (Wanderer, seated) in “Siegfried” at the Washington National Opera, directed by Francesca Zambello (photo by Karin Cooper) Washington National Opera continued its epic American Ring Cycle on Saturday night, opening a production of Wagner’s Siegfried that was plagued by vocal and technical troubles but was still an evening of revelations. Director Francesca Zambello continued the work begun in her 2006 Das Rheingold and 2007 Die Walküre, which transferred…

The Gods cross the Rainbow Bridge into Valhalla in WNO’s Das Rheingold (Photo: Karin Cooper) You know that the financial crisis has already caused a lot of damage to the lives of everyday people, as companies go into bankruptcy and people lose their jobs and mortgages. The corresponding cultural damage is beginning appear as well: regional opera companies and symphonies are folding, while others are cutting back their projected seasons for fear of being…