Category Archives: Wagner
The Ride of the Valkyries
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd June 2024With the possible exception of the Bridal March from Lohengrin, the music that opens Act 3 of Die Walküre – The Ride of the Valkyries – is the most familiar written by Richard Wagner. The Ride takes around eight minutes, and begins in the prelude to the third act, building up successive layers of accompaniment…
› Read the full entry
Finale 40 – Götterdämmerung
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th January 2024The concluding scene of Wagner’s four-opera slog through Norse mythology ends with the Immolation Scene. Its action is described below taken from the Wikipedia article on the opera. Depending on your taste the cycle is one of art’s greatest achievements or it is a vast Sahara dotted with lush oases. I am of the latter…
› Read the full entry
Wagner’s Operas and Medical Education
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd September 2023Are Richard Wagner’s operas a potential tool to teach medical students and young doctors humanities? is the title of a paper published by Gunter Wolf a member of the Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Jena. He is also an expert on the operas of Wagner. The abstract of the paper is below. At…
› Read the full entry
Liebestod
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st August 2023Wagner’s writing for soprano in his iconic Tristan und Isolde is probably both the most demanding and representative of his entire oeuvre. For the part’s full realization a singer of extraordinary power, art, and flexibility is required. The same requirements are needed for the the tenor who sings Tristan, but he’s for another day. In…
› Read the full entry
Finale 37 – Act I Lohengrin
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th March 2023Wagner’s most performed opera, Lohengrin, returned to the Met this season after hiatus of 17 years. It is also the only Wagner opera we know for certain that Verdi saw in performance. This was on November 9, 1871 in Bologna. He left detailed notes on his impression of the work. The Bologna production was the…
› Read the full entry
Lohengrin in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th March 2023Wagner’s most popular opera returned to the Met this season after an absence of almost 17 years. This new production was directed by François Girard with sets and costume by Tim Yip. The staging uses stark walls and a circular device through which moved a succession of moons. Stars dominated the third act. The choristers…
› Read the full entry
The Ring Operas And Anti-Semitism
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th March 2022That Wagner was anti-Semitic is indisputable. The extent to which his prejudice entered his operas is much less certain. Eric Nelson, the Robert M. Beren Professor of Government at Harvard, recently published Wagner and the Anti-Semitism of ‘the Ring’ in Commentary. Professor Nelson approaches this subject from an unusual position. He knows the Ring operas…
› Read the full entry
Finale 28 – Das Rheingold
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th April 2021Wagner wrote the librettos for the four Ring operas in reverse order. The music, however, was composed in the correct sequence. Das Rheingold lays the foundation for the long slog ahead. As it’s all in one act, allowing no chance for a bathroom break, it lasts only 2 hours and 20 minutes, give or take…
› Read the full entry
Giuseppe Borgatti
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th March 2021Giuseppe Borgatti (1871-1950) was Italy’s first heldentenor. He was born and raised in rural northern Italy. Apparently he grew up illiterate. His voice was discovered during his compulsory military service. A wealthy patron sponsored both his musical and reading lessons. He made his operatic debut at age 21 as Gounod’s Faust. He became famous when…
› Read the full entry
The Ghost in the Machine – A Cautionary Tale
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th January 2021This article is almost a quarter of a century old. I wrote it for a print magazine and then published it here more than a decade ago. It’s buried in the site’s archives. I thought I’d give it fresh exposure and accordingly am resurrecting it. There’s a companion piece that I may also renew. It…
› Read the full entry
