| A mood piece instills a sense of foreboding and hidden evil that's difficult to identify, but present nevertheless. Act II: in a shadowy and vast ruined temple, the high priest warns Leila on pain of death to be faithful to her vows. And inside the Cathedral each cave and grotto has a theme: one holds the glittering treasures of the Niebelungs, and Goethe Grotto has one of his legs and a lot of pencils worn down to stubs. Glue hair, handbills, children's illustrations, ink. Mushrooms are highly evolved forms of saprophytes. Once the old priest leaves, she sings out the love that fills her heart-- "As Once Before in the Dark of Night." The shepherd's daughter slipped out of her first shift, and spread it over the worm's skin. Jute, keys, lace, silver leaf, leaflets, cut-out letters, lids of cans and bottles, lightbulbs, lignite, linen, linoleum. It's up to the author to ensure that readers fall for him as deeply as the heroine does. The sex-crime cave holds a young girl's mutilated corpse, painted red, on a bed of tomatoes. Suddenly, not far away, she hears Nadir singing a serenade, and a moment later he is with her, whence a duet of almost Italianate character develops: "Your Heart Has Not Encompassed Mine." A feeling of impending doom predominates. |
