Wagner Operas Podcast

Wagner Operas Podcast

The official podcast of Wagneroperas.com

Episodes

July 20, 2025 18 mins

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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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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July 12, 2023 15 mins

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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May 29, 2023 52 mins

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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May 20, 2023 42 mins

This Lohengrin is one of the great recordings of the 1930's from the  Read more

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April 1, 2019 28 mins

 

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 ...

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July 30, 2018 35 mins

It’s that time of the year, when that midsummer classic the Bayreuth Festival begins once again. 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 ...

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April 8, 2018 22 mins

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 terr...

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February 18, 2018 30 mins

When Parsifal is playing in town at the Metropolitan Opera it is a not-to-be-missed event.  Luckily this year, I get to see it twice.  My first visit was yesterday at the Saturday matinee.  I was joined by my good friends Francis and his wife Julia, as well as my friend Vlad.  Francis and...

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February 14, 2018 15 mins

A guidebook to the city of Bayreuth, written at the turn of the century, got me thinking: I wonder what a trip to Bayreuth would have been like in those days. In this video podcast we will take a trip to 1905, and listen to the glorious voices that graced the Festspielhaus during the beginning of the 20th century.

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December 17, 2017 25 mins

The Christmas season does not usually bring to mind the music of Richard Wagner, but it should, for on Christmas morning, in the year 1870, Cosima, the composer's wife, woke from her slumbers to a new composition written by her husband to celebrate her 25th of December birt...

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October 29, 2017 24 mins

The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer) is Richard Wagner’s answer to Halloween.  The story of a ghostly sea captain who is doomed to sail the seven seas for eternity is the perfect opera to enjoy during this spooky festive season. 

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September 9, 2017 19 mins

My favorite moment in the Ring of the Nibelung occurs in the second act of Die Walküre.  Brünnhilde visits Siegmund to tell him that he will die in battle and that she will take him to Valhalla.  This is the famous “Todesverkündigung,” one of the most famous moments from the trilogy.

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September 1, 2017 40 mins

My journey to Bayreuth this summer was filled with so many great performers by a host of very talented singing actors.  Thinking about the month of August and the great performances I saw and heard, I started wondering what some of these same singers would be like in roles other than the ones I saw the...

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August 24, 2017 52 mins

After so many years of doing these podcasts I realized that I had never done a program dedicated exclusively to one of my favorite Wagner operas, Tannhäuser.  So here is an audio show highlighting some of the great moments from this romantic opera from the composer’s ...

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August 21, 2017 25 mins

Currently at the Bayreuth Festival there is an exhibit called “Silenced Voices.”  It is a tribute to the many singers, artists, and musicians who, during the Third Reich, were banned from the festival because they were Jewish.  In this podcast I pay tribute to three of ...

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August 18, 2017 33 mins

During these uncertain days, when the whole world seems to be enveloped by confusion, war, and hate, Vincent and his guest Francis visit the Festspielhaus at Bayreuth and speak about their admiration for Katharina Wagner’s production of Tristan und Isolde, conducted by the dynamic Bayreuth...

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August 4, 2017 13 mins

This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Wieland Wagner, the composer's grandson, who in 1951 revolutionized the staging of his grandfather's work when he reopened the Bayreuth Festival after World War II with an astonishing production of Parsifal.  His dark style became known as "New Bayreuth."

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July 27, 2017 10 mins

The 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.

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July 22, 2017 28 mins

It’s been seven years since my last podcast. During that time many wonderful things happened including a visit to Bayreuth in 2012. Now, this summer, I am very lucky to have a chance to go back to the Green Hill. Bass-baritone René Pape will be singing the role of King Marke in Katharina Wagner's production ...

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