Program:
Selections from Götterdämmerung
-Dawn
-Siegfried’s Rhine Journey
-Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March
- Overture to Tannhäuser
- “Ich sah das Kind” from Parsifal
- Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
- Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Performers:
- Boston Symphony Orchestra
- Daniele Gatti – Conductor
- Michelle DeYoung, Mezzo-Soprano
Venue: Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCLL26TO6KA
PII
Reading parts of the novel I checked out, I am led to believe that the core influence on his composure of different musical pieces was his interest in stories written by Homer, mythological pieces, and the works of Shakespeare, which then evolved into poetical and musical composition.
I find it particularly interesting how “Tristan und Isolde” came about. To make a long story short, it came about after Wagner had half written “Siegfried” when Wagner had gone through stages of depression because he had felt the works he had been writing would never be produced by the end of his life. “He hungered for a closer, an active connection with the stage, and he needed money, and so he regretfully laid aside the “Ring” scores and set to work on the poem of “Tristan und Isolde” (Henderson).This also kind of reminds me of other composers. If I remember correctly, I believe I heard in class that other composers had felt the same way about their works. It is said the works of Parisfal was occupying the mind of Wagner in the year of 1857, and it was not completed until 1877. “Wagner told me that in the fifties, when in Zurich, he took possession of a charming new house, and that inspired by the beautiful spring weather, he wrote out the sketch that very day of the Good Friday music.” (Henderson). After coming across this excerpt, it instantly reminded me of Vivaldi’s “Spring” movement. PS– The italics don’t seem to want to go away! Silly technology… Reference:Henderson, William. Richard Wagner His Life and His Dreams. New York: AMS Press Inc., 1923.