What's the point of booing Gotterdammerung?

Photo by Monika Rittershaus

Every review I've read of LA Opera's Gotterdammerung, which opened this past weekend, has mentioned the robust booing directed at Achim Freyer, the production's mastermind (and careful of that last link- the LA Times' Mark Swed gives way too much away about the opera's concluding stagecraft). What is wrong with these people? Seriously. I'm not saying everyone should love the production, though I have so far, but this is part four!

Did you not see the first three in the cycle? If you saw them, or at least one of them, are you such a dimwitted masochist you would pay good money and spend over five hours to watch something you know you are going to loathe? Really? What's wrong with you?

If you haven't seen any of the previous operas, first of all why are you starting at the end and not the beginning? And what did you expect- Otto Schenk or Seattle? Had you not read a single review nor caught a glimpse of a publicity shot? The people booing this production are morons. Not because they don't like it, but because they went in the first place.

Now I don't like everything I see just because I want to, and sometimes I end up loving loving stuff I thought I'd hate- read this blog for ample evidence of this- but if I know the first ten or so hours of a fifteen-hour work aren't something I liked or was interested in, then why commit to the final five hours? It makes no sense to me at all. So shut up, would you please?

PS- if you've never been to the opera before, Gotterdammerung is not the place to start. Seriously.