Wagner

Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Weber and Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music.

Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, run by his descendants. His thoughts on the relative contributions of music and drama in opera were to change again, and he reintroduced some traditional forms into his last few stage works, including Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).

Until his final years, Wagner's life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century; his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, the visual arts and theatre.
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Wagner

Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Weber and Meyerbeer, Wagner rev...
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102 albums
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R. STRAUSS  Also Sprach Zarathustra
WAGNER  Tristan und Isolde – excerpts
MENDELSSOHN  “Scottish” Symphony
KHACHATURIAN  Gayaneh Suite
plus:  the complete Remington recordings:
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1
BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3

Studio recordings, 1947/52
Total duration:  2hr 14:57 

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Tonkünstler Orchester

conducted by Artur Rodziński

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WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Prelude to Act III
ELGAR Variations on an Original Theme ('Enigma'), Op.36 
WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Overture
ELGAR Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 20 - 2. Larghetto
WAGNER Der fliegende Holländer - Overture
DELIUS On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Recorded 1943
Total duration: 67:00

Seattle Symphony
conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham

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NICOLAI The Merry Wives of Windsor: Overture
ELGAR
Serenade for Strings
HANDEL-BEECHAM
Love in Bath: The Great Elopement
DELIUS
The Walk to the Paradise Garden
J. STRAUSS II
Voices of Spring
WAGNER Götterdämmerung: Siegfried’s Funeral March
SIBELIUS Pelléas et Mélisande Suite: The Death of Mélisande
MOZART
Divertimento, K 131: Adagio
SCHUBERT
Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished.”
TCHAIKOVSKY
Serenade in C: Elegie
BERLIOZ
Les Troyens: Trojan March
MOZART  Symphony No. 31
HANDEL-BEECHAM 
Piano Concerto

CHABRIER
España

MOZART The Impressario - Overture
SAINT-SAENS Omphale’s Spinning Wheel
BERLIOZ The Trojans - Royal Hunt and Storm
BERLIOZ Hungarian March

Recorded in 1945

Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor
Blue Network Symphony Orchestra

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WAGNER Götterdämmerung: Siegfried’s Funeral March
SIBELIUS Pelléas et Mélisande Suite: The Death of Mélisande
MOZART
Divertimento, K 131: Adagio
SCHUBERT
Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished.”
TCHAIKOVSKY
Serenade in C: Elegie
BERLIOZ
Les Troyens: Trojan March

Live broadcast on ABC/Blue Network, 4pm, 14 April 1945
Total duration: 57:50

Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor
Blue Network Symphony Orchestra

 

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WAGNER Tannhäuser – Overture
WAGNER Lohengrin – Preludes to Acts 1 & 3
WAGNER Die Meistersinger – Overture

Overtures and short works by
Berlioz ∙ Mozart ∙ Offenbach ∙ Suppé ∙ Thomas ∙ J. Strauss II

Studio recordings, 1927-29
Total duration:  75:51

Berlin State Opera Orchestra    
conducted by Artur Bodanzky

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    WAGNER Tristan und Isolde
    Live broadcast recording, 1960
    Producer and XR Remastering: Andrew Rose
    Cover artwork based on a photograph of Birgit Nilsson as Isolde, Met Opera 1959/60
    Total duration: 3hr 22:30

    Tristan - Ramón Vinay
    Isolde - Birgit Nilsson
    Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera
    Karl Böhm
    , conductor