Wagner Operas Podcast

RIENZI will open the 150th Bayreuth Festival

Wagner's third opera, RIENZI will open the 2026 Bayreuth Festival which celebrates 150 years of existence. This early work has never been performed at the Festspielhaus.

Davidsen's Isolde

In early 2026 soprano Lise Davidsen will perform the role of Isolde in two cities: first in Barcelona, then New York City in March. In 2024, Ms. Davidsen tried out the ro

Wagner in July

In this episode we present a rarely heard piece by the composer, comisioned to celebrate the Centennial of the United States of America.

The Dutchman at Santa Fe with Francis and Julia

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

An A.I. Summer at Bayreuth

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 histor

The Wagner That Blooms in the Spring

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 20

A Lohengrin for the Ages

This Lohengrin is one of the great recordings of the 1930's from the Bayreuth Festival. It features Franz Völker and Maria Müller, two of the leading singers of the time,

An Afternoon Walküre at the MET

  The Metropolitan Opera is currently presenting Wagner's Ring, and the return of the Robert Lapage controversial production. Last Saturday I attended a performance

The Bayreuth Festival 2018

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 performan

Herrmann and Wagner

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 W

Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera - 2018

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

A Trip to Bayreuth in 1905

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 vid

Wagner's Christmas

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, w

Halloween with the Flying Dutchman

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 eterni

Todesverkündigung

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 wi

Bayreuth Summer Artists

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 p

A Tribute to Tannhäuser

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

The Silenced Voices of Bayreuth

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,

Vincent and Francis visit Bayreuth

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

Wieland Wagner: One Hundred Years

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 whe