In Lohengrin Wagner links arias with recitatives-unbroken musical continuity is born. In Tristan und Isolde he changes the very role of the orchestra. And in The Ring of the Niebelungen he invents the leitmotif. This program charts the fortunes and innovations of the composer who truly revolutionized opera. Beginning with The Flying Dutchman, the video explores the connections between Wagner's themes and the events in his life that inspired them. Excerpts from the Wagnerian canon include Bayreuth Festival productions of Lohengrin and Parsifal; Sir George Solti conducting Tannhauser; and Pierre Boulez conducting the Ring cycle
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