RIENZI will open the 150th Bayreuth Festival
Wagner Operas Podcasts
Wagner's third opera, RIENZI will open the 2026 Bayreuth Festival which celebrates 150 years of existence. This early work has never been performed at the Festspielhaus.
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Davidsen's Isolde
Wagner Operas Podcasts
In early 2026 soprano Lise Davidsen will perform the role of Isolde in two cities: first in Barcelona, then New York City in March. In 2024, Ms. Davidsen tried out the role "on the road" when she sang Act II in a concert performance in Munich. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was led by Sir Simon Rattle.
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Wagner in July
Wagner Operas Podcasts
In this episode we present a rarely heard piece by the composer, comisioned to celebrate the Centennial of the United States of America.
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The Dutchman at Santa Fe with Francis and Julia
Wagner Operas Podcasts
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.
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An A.I. Summer at Bayreuth
Wagner Operas Podcasts
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.
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The Wagner That Blooms in the Spring
Wagner Operas Podcasts
In this podcast I am joined by my good friend, Francis Creighton, as we explore the custom of presenting Wagner at the MET during Spring time, which coincides with the 2023 new production of Lohengrin from the Metropolitan Opera.
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A Lohengrin for the Ages
Wagner Operas Podcasts
This Lohengrin is one of the great recordings of the 1930's from the Bayreuth Festival. It features Franz Völker and Maria Müller, two of the leading singers of the time, in excerpts from this opera. Many consider Völker to be the greatest Lohengrin of the 20th century.
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An Afternoon Walküre at the MET
Wagner Operas Podcasts
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.
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The Bayreuth Festival 2018
Wagner Operas Podcasts
It’s that time of the year, when that midsummer classic the Bayreuth Festival begins once again. This year 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.
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Herrmann and Wagner
Wagner Operas Podcasts
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.
info_outlineThe Bayreuth Festival opened this week with a new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Wagner's only comedy. Barrie Kosky, the director of this production has focused on the antisemitism aspect of Wagner's work. The results make for a very interesting night at the Festspielhaus.
