The Music of Richard Wagner

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01: 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.

47 min

02: 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.

50 min

03: 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.

44 min

04: 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 Freischütz," incorporating Germanic folklore and the melodic sensibility of German folk song.

48 min

05: "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."

45 min

06: "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.

48 min

07: Dresden and "Tannhäuser," 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 "Tannhäuser," based in the legend of a medieval "minnesinger" or poet/minstrel.

47 min

08: "Tannhäuser," 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.

48 min

09: "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.

48 min

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.

47 min

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.

44 min

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.

46 min

13: "Tristan and Isolde," Part 2

The musical and dramatic conclusion of "Tristan and Isolde" is one of Western art's greatest moments.

49 min

14: Miracles

In tracing Wagner's tumultuous personal journey of the 1860s, learn about the disastrous premiere of "Tannhäuser" in Paris and the unraveling of the composer's first marriage, followed by years of hardship spent seeking performances and fleeing creditors.

44 min

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.

46 min

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."

49 min

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.

48 min

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.

47 min

19: "The Ring," Part 3

"The Valkyrie," second drama of "The Ring," introduces Wagner's iconic warrior princess, Brünnhilde. Track the narrative scene by scene, focusing on numerous examples of Wagner's musical storytelling, as Brünnhilde determines to help illicit lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, crossing her father, Wotan.

47 min

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 figure of Siegfried, orphaned son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, as he discovers his true identity.

45 min

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 Brünnhilde.

47 min

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.

47 min

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."

47 min

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.

50 min

Overview Course No. 7290

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 Western art. 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, 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. Professor Greenberg, with his expert grasp of both the music itself and the human dimensions of Wagner's life story, demonstrates that those willing to engage with Wagner as a total package will find themselves in the presence of one of the most visionary creators civilization has ever produced.

Tracing Wagner's melodramatic life, from his desperate escapades outrunning creditors to his obsessive personal relationships, his utopian artistic schemes to his fanatical and voluminous writings, Professor Greenberg places the greatness of Wagner's music and theatrical creations within the context of his grandiose, extreme, and uncompromising approach to living. This course is a highly incisive and in-depth investigation of Wagner's art and life, reckoning with the unsettling dichotomies of one of Western art's most brilliant, influential, and unusual figures.

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About

Robert Greenberg

For thousands of years cultures have celebrated themselves through their music. Let us always be willing and able to join that celebration by listening as carefully as we can to what, through music, we have to say to one another.

ALMA MATER

University of California, Berkeley

INSTITUTION

San Francisco Performances

Dr. Robert Greenberg is Music Historian-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances. A graduate of Princeton University, Professor Greenberg holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has seen his compositions-which include more than 45 works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles-performed all over the world, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, England, Ireland, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands.

He has served on the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley; California State University, Hayward; and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and has lectured for some of the most prestigious musical and arts organizations in the United States, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Van Cliburn Foundation, and the Chicago Symphony. For The Great Courses, he has recorded more than 500 lectures on a range of composers and classical music genres.

Professor Greenberg is a Steinway Artist. His many other honors include three Nicola de Lorenzo Composition Prizes and a Koussevitzky commission from the Library of Congress. He has been profiled in various major publications, including The Wall Street Journal; Inc. magazine; and the London Times.

You can find more music content from Robert Greenberg on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RobertGreenbergMusic.

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