Join our invited speakers for a Symposium to hear about the thought-provoking and controversial genius, Richard Wagner. Whether you are new to Wagner or an experienced aficionado, this day-long event will be both enlightening and entertaining.

Desirée Mays, lecturer and story-teller, asks Why Wagner? She will open the morning with the sounds and images of Die Walküre, discuss the mythic story, and introduce the speakers.

Mary Springfels, Co-Director of Severall Friends Early Music Ensemble will present The Sources of Die Walküre. While no sung poetry survives from the most ancient sources of Wagner’s Ring, there is some marvelous music from the high Middle Ages that shows us how stories were told. Mary Springfels and John Piccolini will perform examples of this repertoire and discuss Wagner’s approach to medieval music and poetry.

Victoria Bond, conductor and composer, presents Leitmotifs and Wagner’s Harmonic Toolbox in Die Walküre. Wagner was highly original in his use of harmony and in the creation of leitmotifs. Dr. Bond will discuss the ways in which he used leitmotifs to organize the monumental Ring and how these leitmotifs changed according to the characters, the locations, and the time to which they referred. The subtle shift of one note in a chord could evoke a seismic emotional change. She will demonstrate on the piano both the principal leitmotifs and Wagner’s signature harmonies and play video examples of them in context from productions.

Professor Simon Williams, Emeritus Professor of Theater Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara “Staging Die Walküre for a Troubled World: 1876-2025.” This presentation will take us from Wagner’s original staging with images of Appia’s designs, through the bare stage approach of Wagner’s son, Siegfried, to contemporary, sometimes revelatory, sometimes sensational productions of our time. The universality and timelessness of Wagner’s opera and drama will be discussed.

The final presentation of the Symposium will be from a member of the production team discussing the idea, the approach and concept for Santa Fe Opera’s production.

For more information, please contact Anna Garcia at agarcia@santafeopera.org.

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