Richard Wagner Archives

“It’s such epic music,” Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Jessica Hall on being an opera pianist for Wagner’s Das Rheingold

November 17, 2016January 14, 2017 Trevor Gillis Der Ring des Nibelungen, Greer Grimsley, Minnesota Opera, Niebelheim, Opera, pianist, piano, Resident Artist, Richard Wagner, The Ring Cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung, Wagner0 comment

Prior to the Das Rheingold preview night at Minnesota Opera on Thursday, November 10, 2016, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Jessica Hall, one of the two opera pianists for Minnesota Opera’s current production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, the prologue in his epic four-opera Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), more commonly known as the Ring Cycle. Jessica Hall is currently in her second season as a Minnesota Opera Resident Artist. She obtained her Graduate Certificate, Master of Music, and…

Features

Brian Staufenbiel’s Das Rheingold – The New Generation of Opera in Action

November 12, 2016January 14, 2017 Trevor Gillis Das Rheingold, Der Ring des Nibelungen, director, Opera, Richard Wagner, The Ring Cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung, theater, theater in the round, Wagner, Wotan0 comment

At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 10, 2016, I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing history in the making – I attended the preview night of the first ever Minnesota Opera production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, the prologue in Wagner’s epic four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). Prior to the final dress rehearsal that evening, I sat down with Brian Staufenbiel, the stage director for the production. Staufenbiel is the Creative Director at Opera Parallèle, a San Francisco-based opera company specializing in cutting-edge productions of…

Das Rheingold Opera of the Month

Leitmotivs – Das Rheingold, Opera of the Month

October 2, 2016October 30, 2016 Trevor Gillis Anna Russell, Der Ring des Nibelungen, leitmotiv, Opera, Richard Wagner, ring, The Ring Cycle, Valhalla, Wagner2 Comments

Since we’re looking at a Wagner opera – Das Rheingold – this month as our Opera of the Month, we need to discuss leitmotivs. By the end of this post, you should have a solid understanding of what a leitmotiv is, who used them, and why they’re useful. A leitmotiv is a recurring musical passage that is associated with a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Most often they are relatively short melodies, but they could also be chord progressions or rhythms. They were central to Richard Wagner’s creative process…

Lyric Opera of Chicago Minnesota Opera New to opera Wagner

A short trip to Valhalla this morning…

September 19, 2016November 1, 2016 Trevor Gillis Das Rheingold, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Fricka, leitmotiv, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Metropolitan Opera, Richard Wagner, Wotan0 comment

Good morning, opera lovers! Take a little trip to Valhalla with me. 00