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- Richard Wagner's last opera has remained controversial since its first performance for its unique, and, for some, unsavory blending of religious and erotic themes and imagery. Based on one of the medieval epic romances of King Arthur and the search for the holy grail (the chalice touched by the lips of Christ at the last supper), it recounts over three long acts how a "wild child" unwittingly invades the sacred precincts of the grail, fulfilling a prophecy that only such a one can save the grail's protectors from a curse fallen upon them. Interpreters of the work have found everything from mystical revelation to proto-fascist propaganda in it. Hans-Jurgen Syberberg's production doesn't avoid either aspect, but tries synthesize them by seeking their roots in the divided soul of Wagner himself. The action unfolds on a craggy landscape which turns out to be a gigantic enlargement of the composer's death mask, among deliberately tatty theatrical devices: puppets, scale models, magic-lantern projections. The eponymous hero is sung by the specified tenor voice (Reiner Goldberg) but mimed on screen by a male and a female performer alternately, reflecting what the director takes to be the creator's own sexual conflicts. Syberberg's pacing, dictated by the majestic pace of Wagner's score, is slow, but enlivened by constant subtle shifts in point of view, and memorable performances by actress Edith Clever as the villainess/heroine Kundry (sung by Yvonne Minton), orchestra conductor Armin Jordan as the remorseful knight Amfortas (sung by Wolfgang Schoene), and Robert Lloyd (the faithful retainer Gurnemanz).
- 'Das Rheingold' tells the story about Alberich's theft of the gold from the Rhine, the forging of the Ring of power and sets off a cascade of events that further develop in the subsequent operas of the Ring Cycle.
- The people of the Duchy of Brabant are divided by quarrels and political infighting; also, a devious hostile power left over from the region's pagan past is seeking to subvert the prevailing monotheistic government and to return the Duchy to pagan rule. A mysterious knight, sent by God and possessing superhuman charisma and fighting ability, arrives to unite and strengthen the people, and to defend the innocent noble woman Elsa from a false accusation of murder, but he imposes a condition: the people must follow him without knowing his identity. Elsa in particular must never ask his name, or his heritage, or his origin. The conspirators attempt to undermine her faith in her rescuer, to create doubt among the people, and to force him to leave.
- A woman escapes her everyday life by entering a fantasy world.
- Wagner's opera in 3 acts is set in legendary Brittany and Cornwall, with a tragic love story that revolves around the themes of love, night, and death. Isolde is being brought from Ireland to Cornwall by Tristan to be the bride of his uncle, King Mark. Isolde is angry at Tristan because he slew Morold, Isolde's betrothed, who came from Ireland to exact tribute from Cornwall. However, when she sees Tristan, her feelings begin to change. She plans to poison him, but when she and Tristan drink from the same cup, it turns out that Brangäne, her maid and confidante, has filled it with a love potion. At King Mark's castle, the young lovers meet at night for trysts, while Brangäne stands guard. Mark and his courtiers go off hunting one night, and Brangäne warns Isolde Melot, Tristan's supposed friend, has arranged the nocturnal hunt as a trap. Isolde and Tristan disregard this and sing love songs to each other. Then King Mark, Melot and the courtiers burst in on them as the sun begins to rise. Mark asks how they could do this; Tristan says he is willing to go into the realm of night, and Isolde says she will follow him there. Melot and Tristan have a swordfight, and Tristan allows himself to be wounded. In Act 3, Tristan is dying at his castle in Brittany. His servant and friend, Kurwenal, watches over him. They watch for a ship that will bring Isolde, and at last she comes. They share a last moment of love, then he dies in her arms. A second ship arrives with King Mark, who plans to let Tristan and Isolde remain together. Kurwenal attacks them and is slain; Isolde falls on to Tristan's body, dying of grief.
- Wotan tries to cheat two giants, who built Walhalla for him, out of their reward. When the giants kidnap Freia, Wotan steals a ring of power made by the dwarf Alberich and use it as payment instead. Complications ensue.
- In the final opera of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, the lovers Siegfried and Brünnhilde are torn apart by a pair of royal siblings who use magic and deception to gain their love and the magic ring.
- In the second part of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, two mortal strangers meet, pulled together by Wotan, king of the gods, until a decree from his wife forces his Valkyrie daughter Brünnhilde to step in and try to save the mortals.
- Walther von Stolzing is in love with Eva Pogner but she is set to be given as the prize for the winner of the upcoming master singer's contest.
- The last of the four operas about The Ring of the Nibelungen: this death of the gods to make way for the humans, based on the Nibelungenlied.
- "Tannhauser" is an opera by Richard Wagner divided in three acts and based on the fight between pure and carnal love. This modern version changes the original medieval story to the present days.
- Parsifal is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Protected by his mother throughout his childhood from any contact with the world, to keep him pure and innocent, Parsifal, having despite this discovered evil and sin, manages after a long, epic interior journey to discover the Grail, the fullness of life and the quietude of the soul.
- The new production of the opera "Lohengrin" by Richard Wagner opened the Bayreuth Festival in July 2018.
- In the third opera of Wagner's Ring Cycle, a young man named Siegfried, raised by the dwarf Mime, finds the pieces of a magic sword and goes on a quest to experience fear for the first time, all part of a plan set forth by the god Wotan.
- An English-language version of Wagner's opera.
- The struggle between sacred and profane love, with redemption through love.
- Part 3 of 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' performed by the Dutch National Opera
- With powerful conviction, Nikolaus Lehnhoff interprets Wagner's Lohengrin as the dramatic struggle of masculine and feminine, revenge and compassion. Powerfully acted, almost like a Strindberg play, and musically of the highest order, this Lohengrin from the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden will be a benchmark production for decades. With his extraordinarily transparent interpretation of the title role, Klaus Florian Vogt leads an inspired cast to visionary realms that are rarely touched. The monumental sets by Stephan Braunfels and Kent Nagano's sublimely well-balanced musical interpretation complete a deeply moving total-theatre experience. Bonus features: - Illustrated Synopsis - Never Shalt Thou Ask of Me - A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz, including interviews with Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Stephan Braunfels, Bettina Walter, Kent Nagano and leading members of the cast
- A fearless young hero battles otherworldly challenges on a journey to discover his destiny.
- The final part of 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' performed by the Dutch National Opera
- Parsifal is a strange and enigmatic work. At the end of his life, did Wagner wish to celebrate asceticism, which he himself had never practised? Did he fall upon his knees before the Cross, as claimed by Nietzsche? And what does the secret society of knights based on pure blood signify, desperately waiting for the saviour to regenerate it? What is the true nature of the opposition between the worlds of Klingsor and the Grail? What can Parsifal tell us today? In his artistic will and testament, Wagner condenses his moral idea of the world and returns to the roots of love and religion - to the very heart of art according to him. With the participation of conductor Hartmut Haenchen who is passionated by the score, Italian stage director Romeo Castellucci proposes an original reading of this brilliant work and explores the essence of Wagnerian 'Kunstreligion' in a different light.
- When Daland and his Norwegian sailors spot the Dutchman's ship, they hail him. He tells them that he is doomed to sail the seas and can come on land once every seven years to seek redemption from the curse. Daland, who is rather greedy, hopes the wealthy stranger will marry his daughter, although Erik, a young hunter, has already been courting her. They go to Daland's house, where Senta promises obedience to her father's wishes. She has been feeling that Erik is a little bit too conventional and boring and she finds the stranger mysterious and romantic, so she sings her desire to be the woman who can redeem the Dutchman. He warns that her fate won't be pretty if she swears fidelity but fails to keep it, but Senta has fallen in love at first sight and pledges her faithfulness unto death. Party time! But when the sailors and their women call to the Dutch ship for the crew to come ashore and join the celebration, it becomes clear that the ship is manned by ghosts.