RICHARD WAGNER: THE COMPOSER AND THE MAN                          

Some may ask: “a whole evening of music by one guy? What’s up?”

Actually, nearly all evenings at the opera consist of music by one guy – Mozart, Verdi, Puccini – to name a few of the greatest and best-known. Wagner’s name certainly belongs on that short list of great opera composers. Problem is, his operas are huge, majestic affairs that enormously tax the resources of most opera companies outside the major cities. (Not to mention the challenge of finding voices big enough to be heard over his giant orchestra!) The intimate ambience at Toledo’s beautiful Valentine Theatre is perfect for The Marriage of Figaro and La Bohème, but Wagner’s grand music-dramas would simply take up too much space, both onstage and in the orchestra pit, in that little gem of an opera house.

So, that leaves us with the choice of settling for cut-down versions of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg or The Ring of the Nibelung or finding a way to savor at least some of the greatest moments of music from these acknowledged masterpieces. Wagner’s contemporary, Gioacchino Rossini (composer of The Barber of Seville), remarked that “Wagner has lovely moments but awful hours!” History – and the public – obviously does not share Mr. Rossini’s opinion. In any case, our Opera Gala will feature only Wagner’s most “lovely moments.”

Richard Wagner’s life would make a fine opera! In spite of the generous patronage of the mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, he was constantly in debt and fleeing creditors all over Europe. He got himself involved in revolutions and political upheavals and often had to hide to stay out of jail. When his first marriage failed, he fathered two daughters and a son with his best friend’s wife, Cosima (the daughter of Franz Liszt), who he eventually married. At the age of 68 he built a magnificent opera house at Bayreuth (Germany), where Cosima’s first husband conducted productions of Wagner’s operas.  

Apparently Wagner was a rather unpleasant character in real life, but his personal shortcomings must be sublimated in the poetry and majesty of his music. The immense surges of sound of the Wagnerian orchestra with the voices and choruses soaring above it like the crest of the waves form a might ocean which washes away the pettiness of everyday life and carries us into a magic land of heroism and romance – a land where the pure of heart achieve apotheosis. What could be a more appropriate way to celebrate the spirit of Valentine’s Day?