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TTC - Music of Richard Wagner

Posted By: bogoc
TTC - Music of Richard Wagner

TTC - Music of Richard Wagner
DVDRip | AVI | English | 640x480 | 29.97fps | XviD 922 kbps | MP3 160Kbps | 7.1 GB
Genre: Video Training

Richard Wagner was one of history's greatest composers, a theater artist of extraordinary genius and vision, and one of the most controversial characters in the entire pantheon of Western art. As a composer, he rewrote the rules for opera—reenvisioning its musical forms and creating dazzling and unforgettable dramatic tapestries that melded orchestral magnificence with the soaring beauty of the human voice. As a theater artist, he pioneered the "Gesamtkunstwerk" or "total artwork" that incorporated music, drama, poetry, philosophy, myth, and ritual, building a theater of revolutionary design and creating musical dramas on a scale never before attempted in history. And, as a self-styled theorist, he pursued an agenda of militant German nationalism, anti-Semitism, elitist prejudice, and unbounded self-glorification in his often troubling philosophical tracts and essays.
More than a century after his death, his legacy is still debated, his influence still felt in our very conception of Western music and in the contemporary forms of opera and the complete spectrum of theater and literary arts.

Grappling with all of this in the 24 lectures of The Music of Richard Wagner, Great Courses favorite Professor Robert Greenberg of San Francisco Performances returns with a rich and multifaceted exploration of the trailblazing works and outsized life of this historically pivotal figure.

Course Lecture Titles

24 Lectures

45 minutes / lecture

1. The Escape from Riga
Wagner's grandiose, difficult character and massive achievements constitute a fascinating and controversial legacy. First, consider Wagner's outsized egotism, material self-indulgence, and fanatical philosophies as ultimately inseparable from the grandeur, length, and fantasy of his music dramas. Then, enter the events of his life through his early musical career, his volatile marriage, and his debt-ridden struggles as an opera conductor. Finally, conclude with his daring escape by land and sea from Riga, fleeing creditors.

2. London, Paris, and Rienzi
Trace the professional disappointments of Wagner's stay in London, followed by the extreme financial hardships of his years in Paris, as he composes, sustained by a dogged belief in his own predestined greatness. Then study his opera Rienzi—the key musical content of its overture and "Almighty Father" aria, and its story elements as they mirror Wagner's heroic self-conception. Follow the composer's return to Germany and Rienzi's triumphant premiere in Dresden, which established his career.

3. What to Do about Germany?
Wagner's music and ideals were fired by the German nationalism that emerged from the Napoleonic wars. Chart the dramatic events of Napoleon's continental conquest, his crushing defeat, and the power shifts leading to a united Germany. Continue with Wagner's early life and the issues surrounding his paternity that found expression in the plot of Siegfried. Learn also about Wagner's infatuation with the theater and the "epiphanies" that led to him becoming a composer.

4. The Rise of German Opera
This lecture explores Wagner's early operatic works in the context of the newly emerging German operatic tradition. Study the elements of Weber's landmark Der Freischutz, incorporating Germanic folklore and the melodic sensibility of German folk song. Then trace Wagner's metamorphosis from "wastrel" student to opera composer through his early music writing and attempts at theatrical works. Focusing on his early opera The Fairies, identify his extraordinary craftsmanship and the influences of Rossini and Weber.

5. The Flying Dutchman, Part 1
First, learn about Wagner's voluminous prose writing, used to develop and prioritize his creative agenda, views, and philosophies. Also track the creation and disastrous premiere of his second opera, The Ban on Love. In his first masterwork, The Flying Dutchman, consider his conception of its text as a poem rather than a libretto, his integral adoption of leitmotiv, and the Dutchman's entrance scene as it leaves behind the conventional operatic constructs of recitative and aria.

6. The Flying Dutchman, Part 2
Wagner's deep identification with the displaced, misunderstood figure of the Dutchman gives the opera the quality of a spiritual diary. Follow in detail the unfolding of the narrative and the opera's groundbreaking structure rooted in four main musical "events." Study the poetry and rich musical textures of the heroine's ballad, the lovers' contrapuntal duet, and the "moment of truth" culminating in the protagonists' transfiguration through love, a theme that was to become central to Wagner's work.

7. Dresden and Tannhauser, Part 1
Consider Wagner's working methods and the compositional processes with which he brought a score to life. Then trace his struggles in Dresden following his first success, leading to the creation of Tannhauser, based in the legend of a medieval minnesinger or poet/minstrel. Study the opera's first act, highlighting the soaring melodies of the anti-hero Tannhauser's renunciation of the love of Venus, and the musical unfolding of his return to earth to seek a destiny of another kind.

8. Tannhauser, Part 2
You continue with a scene-by-scene study of the dramatic and musical events of the opera, depicting the minstrel knight's inner battle between the profane lure of Venus and his earthly love, Elizabeth. Explore the musical riches of Elizabeth's passionate aria, the central "festival of song" and the "Pilgrim's Choir," one of Wagner's iconic creations, as Elizabeth offers her own life to redeem Tannhauser as the music itself carries us to a glorious, divine realm.

9. Lohengrin, Part 1
Wagner began work on Lohengrin with his reputation as a trailblazer firmly established. Begin your study with the groundbreaking overture, with its "celestial" melody evoking the Holy Grail. Continue with act I as the mythic knight Lohengrin arrives to fight a "trial by combat," defending the falsely accused Elsa. Highlighting Elsa's heartfelt prayer to God, Lohengrin's entrance, and his "swan song," this lecture elucidates the dramatic continuity of Wagner's writing, as he increasingly blurs opera's traditional conventions.

10. Lohengrin, Part 2
For the conclusion of Lohengrin, this lecture focuses on the character development and dramatic action that propel the opera. Explore the masterful interchange between the disgraced knight Telramund and his wife, Ortrud; their deception of the heroine Elsa; and Elsa's unwitting betrayal of Lohengrin, as well as the opera's complex denouement, as Wagner brings "real-time" immediacy to the majestic musical narrative. Learn also about Lohengrin's premiere under the auspices of the great pianist/composer Franz Liszt.

11. The Escape from Dresden, Exile, and Essays
Focusing on Wagner's five-year hiatus from composing, trace his political activities amid the revolutionary turmoil of 1848–1849, which led to his escape to safety in Switzerland. During his years of exile in Zurich, he wrote a series of seminal essays, expressing currents of thinking that deeply influenced his later works. In particular, explore his views on art and society, his anti-Semitism, and the ideas that encapsulate his path from opera to "music drama."

12. Tristan and Isolde, Part 1
Track Wagner's intense "spiritual communion" with a young married woman in Zurich and how this passion is mirrored in his masterwork, Tristan and Isolde. Then define Wagner's key innovations with leitmotiv and his use of the orchestra. In Tristan's overture and act I, grasp his use of harmonic tension and dissonance to express sexual tension and unconsummated passion. Focus on the musical dialogue of the "drink-death" scene between the two lovers, culminating in their sublime duet.

13. Tristan and Isolde, Part 2
The musical and dramatic conclusion of Tristan and Isolde is one of Western art's greatest moments. Begin with the lovers' extended "conversation" in act II, as they create a shared vision of final ecstasy and union in death, carried by the rich, constantly shifting harmonies of Wagner's mature musical language. In act III, focus on Tristan's emotional interior monologues and finally Isolde's transcendent "Liebestod," revealing their transfiguration. Conclude with assessments of the nature and magnitude of Wagner's achievement.

14. Miracles
In tracing Wagner's tumultuous personal journey of the 1860s, learn about the disastrous premiere of Tannhauser in Paris and the unraveling of the composer's first marriage, followed by years of hardship spent seeking performances and fleeing creditors. Then delve into two life-changing events: Wagner's professional dreams flourish under the patronage of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, allowing him to create his late masterworks; and he meets Cosima von Bulow, daughter of Liszt, beginning a pivotal relationship.

15. The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Part 1
Now, follow the genesis of The Mastersingers as it took shape as an artistic and autobiographical tract amid further personal upheavals for the composer. Enter the culture and history of medieval "mastersinging" and the unfolding plot of the drama, centering on a singing competition for the hand of the heroine Eva. Study the knight Walter's pointedly avant garde aria, as he receives the exact criticism from the mastersingers that Wagner himself had endured over the years.

16. The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Part 2
Wagner's self-identification with the characters of mastersinger Hans Sachs and the knight Walter drives the narrative of The Mastersingers. In act II, study the musical action of Wagner's comic set piece in which the villain-buffoon Beckmesser attempts to serenade Eva as Sachs "judges" his preposterous singing. In the conclusion of the drama, witness the events leading to the final song competition, pitting Beckmesser against Walter and ending with Walter's resplendent "Prize Song," redeeming him (and Wagner) as an artist-innovator.

17. The Ring, Part 1
This lecture charts the creation of the monumental Ring cycle and the extraordinary story of Wagner's struggles to build a unique theater for its presentation in Bayreuth. Also study the narrative structure of the Ring's first drama, The Rhinegold, and its stunning orchestral prelude. In the opening scene, track the musical confrontation between the three Rhine maidens and the dwarf Alberich as he learns of the power of the gold they guard and acts to steal it.

18. The Ring, Part 2
Now follow the unfolding action of The Rhinegold as the devious god Wotan pays the builders of his castle Valhalla by seizing the stolen gold of Alberich—and the power-granting ring Alberich made from it. Explore the key musical episodes, including the fire god Loge's "Narration," the comic sequence in which Wotan and Loge outwit Alberich, and Alberich's bitter curse on the coveted ring that Wotan takes from him.

19. The Ring, Part 3
The Valkyrie, second drama of The Ring, introduces Wagner's iconic warrior princess, Brunnhilde. Track the narrative scene by scene, focusing on numerous examples of Wagner's musical storytelling, as Brunnhilde determines to help illicit lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, crossing her father, Wotan. Hear the dramatic power of Wagner's writing for the "heldentenor" Siegmund, the famous "Ride of the Valkyries," the passionate interchange between Brunnhilde and Sieglinde, and the poignant parting of Wotan and Brunnhilde.

20. The Ring, Part 4
As a prelude to Siegfried, the third drama, reflect on the integral role of myth and symbol in Wagner's works. In the drama's opening, encounter the uncouth, "unmoral" figure of Siegfried, orphaned son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, as he discovers his true identity. Study Siegfried's brilliant "Forging Song," where he recasts the broken sword of his father, and the "Forest Murmurs" sequence, as he waits to test himself against the dragon Fafner, present holder of the ring.

21. The Ring, Part 5
In the compelling conclusion of Siegfried, the hero faces trials leading him to destroy the old world order of his predecessors. Encounter musical highlights, including Siegfried's highly charged confrontation with Wotan and the exquisite duet of Siegfried and Brunnhilde. In the opening of The Twilight of the Gods, The Ring's final drama, follow Siegfried's journey to the kingdom of the Gibichungs, where he is duped by the evil Hagen—who covets the ring—into betraying Brunnhilde.

22. The Ring, Part 6
Concluding The Ring, this lecture investigates the complex resolution of the drama, as the deception of Siegfried sets in motion the ultimate undoing of Hagen, the house of Gibichung, Siegfried himself, and finally the kingdom of the gods. Grasp the musical heart of the denouement, from the dark "Oath Trio" to the final, majestic solo of Brunnhilde, revealing her as the true protagonist, redeemer, and bringer of a new "Age of Man."

23. Parsifal, Part 1
Wagner's final music drama combines some of Western art's greatest music with a text representing a seething tract on Aryan racial purity. First, learn about Wagner's deranged and irrational late writings, as related to the genesis of Parsifal. Then, study the complex narrative—as the young innocent Parsifal enters the corrupt kingdom of the wounded Amfortas, guardian of the Holy Grail—highlighting the thematically rich prelude and Amfortas's dramatically beautiful "Blood Solo."

24. Parsifal, Part 2
In the resolution of Parsifal, discover the dramatic action and sublime musical highpoints of the work. Delve into the critical scene between Parsifal and the seductress Kundry, focusing on her glowing, lyric aria. In the final act, witness the return of Parsifal as a Christ-like figure and hear the musical "passion" of Amfortas and the otherworldly orchestral postlude. Conclude with reflections on the interpretation of Parsifal, the death of Wagner, and the provocative questions surrounding his legacy.

TTC - Music of Richard Wagner


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