Wagner Operas Podcasts
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Welcome to the world of composer Richard Wagner. Wagner is best remembered for the operas he composed; works which changed the course of Western music, and the craft of theatrical staging. This website is an examination of the life of this composer. It is a journey that will shed light on the man and his work, whether you are a beginner or a seasoned Wagnerite.
Wagner Operas Podcasts
5M ago
In this podcast my good friends Francis and Julia Creighton discuss their insights into the Santa Fe Opera The Flying Dutchman., which they saw this past summer. Francis and Julia discuss the production, as well as the incredible theater, one of the unique places in the world to hear opera ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
9M ago
This summer the Bayreuth Festival will present a new production of PARSIFAL that will use Augmented Reality glasses. It promises to be a landmark production in the history of Bayreuth ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
2y ago
No stranger to controversy these days The Bayreuth Festival opened at the end of July with a new production of Lohengrin directed by one of the best-known Regietheater directors, Hans Neuenfels.
His tongue-in-cheek take on Richard Wagner's most romantic opera involved setting it in a land overrun by rats. There was laughter at the Festspielhaus and there were loud boos as well. Ultimately, over the years, the production became one of the most popular at the Green Hill. I was very lucky to see it in the summer of 2012. That first summer, though, Jonas Kaufmann played the title ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
The Metropolitan Opera is currently presenting Wagner's Ring, and the return of the Robert Lapage controversial production. Last Saturday I attended a performance of Die Walküre, and the mechanical problems that plagued this staging during the first season now seem to be gone ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
It’s that time of the year, when that midsummer classic the Bayreuth Festival begins once again. I will be attending this yearly ritual, and ahead of me will be performances of The Flying Dutchman, Parsifal, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the new production of Lohengrin, directed by the first American to mount a production at the Green Hill ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
In this podcast, we explore the link between the musical score of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo, written by composer Bernard Herrmann, and the music of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The 1959 film, whose themes center on obsession, and the links between love and death, covers similar terrain as Wagner’s opera. As a result, Herrmann’s music at times appears to be a loving homage as well as a tribute to Wagner’s greatest work ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
When Parsifal is playing in town at the Metropolitan Opera it is a not-to-be-missed event. Luckily this year, I get to see it twice. My first visit was yesterday at the Saturday matinee. I was joined by my good friends Francis and his wife Julia, as well as my friend Vlad. Francis and I went to Bayreuth last summer, so he is well-seasoned in the works of Wagner, but this was Julia and Vlad’s first Parsifal. The reaction of my friends to this production, including musical interludes of their favorite moments from this opera, is at the heart of this podcast. Also wa ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
A guidebook to the city of Bayreuth, written at the turn of the century, got me thinking: I wonder what a trip to Bayreuth would have been like in those days. In this video podcast we will take a trip to 1905, and listen to the glorious voices that graced the Festspielhaus during the beginning of the 20th century ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
The Christmas season does not usually bring to mind the music of Richard Wagner, but it should, for on Christmas morning, in the year 1870, Cosima, the composer's wife, woke from her slumbers to a new composition written by her husband to celebrate her 25th of December birthday, and played at their house by her friends. The composition was the Siegfried Idyll, Wagner’s very special Christmas music ..read more
Wagner Operas Podcasts
4y ago
The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer) is Richard Wagner’s answer to Halloween. The story of a ghostly sea captain who is doomed to sail the seven seas for eternity is the perfect opera to enjoy during this spooky festive season.  ..read more