The Operas of Wagner

The German composer, Richard Wagner, was one of the most important composers of the 19th century. He transformed western music, opera in particular, with lasting consequences to this day. This course explores one of the most extraordinary lives in history–an exiled revolutionary eventually taken under the wing of a king. We look at his vast output– the early operas as well as those united by characters found in Arthurian legend (Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan and Isolde), and the four operas of Wagner’s magnum opus, Der Ring des Nibelungen (aka the Ring Cycle), a work that took 26 years to write, designed to galvanize the German people but which now inspires people the whole world over. Wagner elicits extreme reactions but those who love him do so with a passion that few other artists inspire. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.