Wagner in Venice
Simon Rees
Monday 8th November
Richard Wagner spent two significant periods in Venice, the first in 1858 when he went there from Zurich after the breakdown of his marriage over his friendship with the poet Mathilde von Wesendonck, and the second in 1883, when he and Cosima, his second wife, wintered in Venice, staying in the Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, where Wagner died. Venice is associated with Tristan und Isolde, part of which Wagner wrote there, and with Parsifal, his final opera. Simon will illustrate this talk with pictures of the Venetian palaces where Wagner stayed, and with music from these two operas.
Simon is an Opera Tour Guide, Surtitle Producer, Lecturer, Dramaturg and Author