Opera eternal

Wagner's Ring Cycle - The Ring of the Niebelung - has been described as one of the most enduring of operatic spectacles. There is no way to fully experience the full-length opera except by sitting through all 14.5 hours of it.

Interestingly, the West and East have much in common in this respect. China's Kunqu Opera The Palace of Eternal Youth (Chang Sheng Dian) written by Hong Sheng (1645-1704) in 1688, narrates the tragic love story of Tang Emperor Li Longji and his concubine Yang Yuhuan, one of the most-liked ancient beauties in China.

The Palace of Eternal Youth is a well-known Kunqu Opera classic, but audiences would not compare it with the long Ring Cycle, because what they usually see is only eight or ten excerpts of the full 50.