Time for this weeks Fun Fact. Today marks a fairly significant day in operatic history. During the Romantic Period of Music (roughly 1820-1900), Richard Wagner was the king of German Opera. His productions were larger than life (not unlike his huge personality). The centerpiece of his operatic output was a cycle of 4 operas called The Ring of Nibelung. The composition process was a lengthy one, especially since the total length of these 4 operas is nearly 24 hours! He composed the framework for the story in reverse order of how the operas were meant to be presented. So the first opera in the cycle, Das Rheingold, was actually the last one to be composed. On this date (Sept. 22nd) in 1869, this particular opera made its debut in Munich, Germany. It would be a few years until the entire cycle would be presented in its entirety, but even with this sample size audiences would still have been able to witness Wagners sense of power and purpose.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 11:18:56 +0000
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