Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” begins on The Sunday Opera this week (6/9 3:00 p.m.) – Well, three out of four! This week is “Das Rheingold” featuring a stellar cast including Johannes Martin Kranzle as Alberich, Lauren Fagan as Woglinde, Christina Bok as Wellgunde, and Andela Simkin as Flosshilde. Wotan is John Lundgren, Fricka is Sara Connolly, and Freia is Lise Davidsen.
In the time after the opera, Michael Kownacky will change the mood with Oliver Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony which does share a link with Wagner as it is one of three works by Messiaen based on the legend of Tristan and Isolde which, of course, was also explored by Wagner. Using some interesting instrumentation including an early electronic instrument called an Ondes Martenot, Messiaen said that this monumental symphony running nearly 90 minutes was simply “a love song.”
