# All Wagner's operas in a year



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I love patterns, related things, projects, travel, and of course I love Wagner. I realise that I now have the chance to see all 13 of Wagner's operas within 12 months. It's not necessarily a calendar year as I'll be starting on 28th December.

It starts in Essen Germany where I see one of my favourites, *Lohengrin*.
The following night (29th Dec) I have *Parsifal* in Amsterdam.

So I'll enter the new year with 11 operas to catch. Of course the crucial matter is the three early works, disowned by Wagner and the Bayreuth festival. These are the only ones I haven't seen live. Here's my options according to operabase.com but this is by no means comprehensive, so perhaps you know others?
*
Die Feen*. May/June in Kosice, Slovakia. Looking forward to this one. Lovely part of the world and time of year. Although it's Wagner's first and unperformed in his lifetime, it's a pleasant work containing many early melodic signs of his later works.

*Das Liebesverbot*. January in Budapest. A familiar place for me. It looks like this will be sung in Hungarian and I know the theatre only has Hungarian surtitles, so I'd better brush up on the libretto. This is Wagner's attempt at Italian opera and the music is sunny and fun. It's based on Shakespeare's _Measure for Measure_.

*Rienzi* is currently available only in a single concert performance in Budapest. This is my weak link unless there's a staged performance early next season.

As for the rest. They're readily available in European cities and 13 operas isn't many compared to my normal schedule. It's just a case of devising an interesting itinerary and not breaking the credit card.


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## interestedin (Jan 10, 2016)

Sounds great. Looking forward to read when/how/where the 13 took place...


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## interestedin (Jan 10, 2016)

But you're one year late. Wagners birthplace Leipzig had all 3 early works this year I think....


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

interestedin said:


> But you're one year late. Wagners birthplace Leipzig had all 3 early works this year I think....


Yeah, I know. Was considering a visit but it didn't happen. Hope I can get to Leipzig for one of the operas.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> I love patterns, related things, projects, travel, and of course I love Wagner. I realise that I now have the chance to see all 13 of Wagner's operas within 12 months. It's not necessarily a calendar year as I'll be starting on 28th December.
> 
> It starts in Essen Germany where I see one of my favourites, *Lohengrin*.
> The following night (29th Dec) I have *Parsifal* in Amsterdam.
> ...


Looks fantastic apart from the credit card bit.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Good luck with this. 

Of course the real challenge would be to see them all in the order first performed. So starting in May 2017 with Die Feen do you think that could be done in a year or are the next two that rare? Would need deep pockets and of course you have to sort out which versions of the Opera's need to be seen. 

For me that would be a step to far and I think I would be happy to hear live all the Opera's of Wagner (8/13 so far), Verdi (17/25?) and Bellini (5/10?). I think it would be a fools errand to try and add ALL the Operas of Donizetti and Rossini but I'm open to the possibilities.

Of course I have seen all of Mahler's Opera.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Belowpar said:


> Good luck with this.
> 
> Of course the real challenge would be to see them all in the order first performed. So starting in May 2017 with Die Feen do you think that could be done in a year or are the next two that rare? Would need deep pockets and of course you have to sort out which versions of the Opera's need to be seen.


Ah yes... the real challenge. In order of composition and versions too! :-o.

Actually I don't view it as a challenge but rather the _theme_ of my opera-going year. Just getting to all the operas will be a nice feeling and fun, hopefully by way of some cities I haven't been to before. The big question is where to take in the Ring cycle.

Incidentally, I have a some criteria to determine whether I venture to a live opera, and I guess each has a points value:
- Country I haven't seen an opera in.
-- City I haven't been to.
--- Opera house I haven't been to.
- Opera I haven't seen before - double points for something I've been longing to see.
- Singer I've been wanting to hear.
- A personal favourite opera (Falstaff, Mefistofele, Wagner)
- Going with or meeting friends and being social.
- Close to wherever I am, easy to get to.

If it has enough plus points, then I'll look at whether I can afford the money and time. Advance planning to get cheap air flights and affordable tickets is essential.

e.g. In November I'm seeing Straszny Dwor in Warsaw, Poland. For me it's a first time for country, city, composer and opera, and I'm meeting up with our sospiro. So that score big points in the above scale. And it helps that the trip is very affordable.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Don Fatale said:


> *Rienzi* is currently available only in a single concert performance in Budapest. This is my weak link unless there's a staged performance early next season.


New Century Opera in the Tampa Bay, Florida, US area has a staged _Rienzi_ in March, performed in English, with piano accompaniment.

You can read a review of their 2014 production of the Flying Dutchman, with pictures, if you want an idea of what it will be like.

A trip could be combined with nearby Sarasota Opera's winter festival which includes _L'amore dei tre re_, _Dialogues des Carmélites_, _Madama Butterfly_, and _L'italiana in Algeri_. These operas will all be performed in their original languages, with orchestra.

Of related interested, last winter Sarasota Opera completed their Verdi Cycle, 
with _Aida_ and _La battaglia di Legnano_. Over 28 years they performed all of Verdi's operas, including alternate versions [so they did a 4-act Italian Don Carlo in 2009, and then in 2015 performed the 5-act French-language version].


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

mountmccabe said:


> New Century Opera in the Tampa Bay, Florida, US area has a staged _Rienzi_ in March, performed in English, with piano accompaniment.
> 
> [...]
> 
> A trip could be combined with nearby Sarasota Opera's winter festival which includes _L'amore dei tre re_, _Dialogues des Carmélites_, _Madama Butterfly_, and _L'italiana in Algeri_. These operas will all be performed in their original languages, with orchestra.


I think I just convinced myself that I want to look into going. My wife's family live in the area, and we're due for a visit. And I don't follow baseball at all anymore, but I've wanted to go to a Detroit Tigers spring training game since I was a child, and they're in Lakeland.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Don Fatale said:


> I love patterns, related things, projects, travel, and of course I love Wagner. I realise that I now have the chance to see all 13 of Wagner's operas within 12 months. It's not necessarily a calendar year as I'll be starting on 28th December.
> 
> It starts in Essen Germany where I see one of my favourites, *Lohengrin*.
> The following night (29th Dec) I have *Parsifal* in Amsterdam.
> ...


Good luck with this task! Will you try to take in Bayreuth as part of it?


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

jflatter said:


> Good luck with this task! Will you try to take in Bayreuth as part of it?


I'd love to. Even if it's one performance.

Actually the trip might be doomed to fail at the start as it looks unlikely I can made Budapest's Das Liebesverbot in early Jan and that's the only production I can find. Plus the fall of Sterling is starting to make foreign travel rather less fun.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

My Wagner year got an unexpected start last night when I found myself at a recital in Malta featuring the _Wesendonck Leider_. I've been planning to catch it at some point during my trawl of Europe for the 13 operas, and it just fell in my lap, so to speak.

Review in the reviews thread.

http://www.talkclassical.com/28094-our-own-reviews-operas-19.html#post1164757


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> My Wagner year got an unexpected start last night when I found myself at a recital in Malta featuring the _Wesendonck Leider_. I've been planning to catch it at some point during my trawl of Europe for the 13 operas, and it just fell in my lap, so to speak.
> 
> Review in the reviews thread.
> 
> http://www.talkclassical.com/28094-our-own-reviews-operas-19.html#post1164757


One has to have some luck from time to time.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

I should have been born in Europe ... or with more money.

Hope you can do this as much as possible, Don Fatale, for me it would be the year/opera adventure of a lifetime. (Although my wife would probably be OK staying at home for a year -- she's not at all fond of classical music -- but I don't think the cats Neptune and Saturn would survive my absence for a year.)

:tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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## Morton (Nov 13, 2016)

This sounds like great fun.
Have you thought about where you will see Tristan yet? If you are in the UK in June, I would recommend thinking about a visit to Longborough Opera in the Cotswolds where they are doing a revival of their 2015 production (this time, thankfully, without the dancers).
They did a complete Ring in 2013 & I met someone there who was also doing all 13 in one year, it was probably easier in the centennial year.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Had a good trip home via Essen and Amsterdam, where I took in Lohengrin and Parsifal. Both were enjoyable, and the Parsifal particularly good, cast as follows.
Amfortas 
Ryan McKinny
Titurel 
Bjarni Thor Kristinsson
Gurnemanz 
Günther Groissböck
Parsifal 
Christopher Ventris
Klingsor 
Bastiaan Everink
Kundry 
Petra Lang

The staging was so abstract I'm struggling to recall it a few days later. That's Pierre Audi & Anish Kapoor for you. I think I preferred Kapoor's ENO Tristan for all its faults. Got to say my attention wondered at times, perhaps too static on stage and in the conducting. My own contribution to the evening was during a quiet moment - a loud crack from my knee joint (quite painless). That's a middle-aged racquet sports player for you!

Essen's production was largely home-grown, their highly regarded conductor Tomas Netopil moving things along nicely. Jessica Muirhead as Elsa and Daniel Johannson as Lohengrin sung well. No complaints at all, certainly not with their very affordable prices. 

As for the next Wagner opera, it's up in the air as I can't make the only performances of Das Leibesverbot. Hoping that something early in the 17/18 season will emerge. Die Feen in Kosice, Tannhauser in Tallinn, Tristan in Lyon or Lisbon, Hollander in Vilnius or Minsk, Meistersinger in London, Ring in Budapest?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Seeing one Wagner opera in a year is enough for me. Add some Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini in the mix as variety.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

All of Wagners operas have a unique flavour to them and there's plenty of variety between them.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Seeing one Wagner opera in a year is enough for me. Add some Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini in the mix as variety.


That would suits me also better .


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Bernard Levin used to plan one Ring Cycle a year. Don F is clearly mined from a stronger seam. I can only dream.


(PS I'm prety sure he'll manage some Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, Boito, Bellini etc etc etc as well)

Wimps!


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Morton said:


> Have you thought about where you will see Tristan yet?


The current Bayreuth _Tristan_ is rather special. I saw it last year, and was so impressed I might try again this year. I don't normally revisit opera productions - the exception being Jonathan Miller's _Mikado_, which I've seen 10 or 11 times! - but I wouldn't mind seeing this _Tristan_ again.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Although the idea (I can't call it a plan!) is to see Wagner's operas in various countries, getting to Bayreuth for the first time is a target and I'd go to anything (certainly Tristan) if it works out.

Next up for me is Karlsruhe's new Die Walkure in February, although the quasi-girlfriend says she doesn't do Wagner.

p.s. Yes, Miller's Mikado is something special, and of course always with a new list to enjoy. I don't mind a double trip to opera productions as sometimes it's with a different cast. If a production isn't worth seeing again, it should be ditched and the director treated with the disdain he/she deserves.


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