Great Operas of Wagner

Short Guides to All his Operas

This compendium of short guides to all Wagner’s operas forms part of Michael Steen’s The Great Opera Companion, Short Guides To A Hundred Best Operas.  Some of the self-standing guides were previously published individually.

Gustav Kobbé, the music critic who died in 1918 and whose opera guide was published four years later, emphasised that instead of mere entertainment, performances of Wagner’s music dramas are experiences that both stir the emotions to their depths and appeal to the intellect.

The pleasure derived is greatly enhanced by understanding what the opera is about, and its background.

There is insufficient time, and there are too many distractions, to find out once has arrived in the foyer.

Wagner is one of the figures in world history about whom the greatest number of books and articles has been written. But Michael Steen, also the author of The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, and Enchantress of Nations, has synthesised a selection of available information into individual self-standing, easily digestible guides. From Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot to The Ring of the Nibelung, the user of this book will be quickly and efficiently informed about what it helps to know ─ and ‘Talking Points’ which are of interest ─ when going to a performance, or when experiencing an opera electronically in the increasing number of ways available.

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