4,745 words
Not symphonic music, but rather the shattering roar of cannon announced the birth of Richard Wagner on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig. The German kingdom of Saxony had been overrun by the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte as he made a last-ditch effort to reassert dominance over Europe.[1]















































































































Wagner Bicentennial Symposium
Rage Against the Machine:
A Very American Ring Cycle
The great Wagner Machine–Siegfried and Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung
2,427 words
It heaves and groans. It shimmies and clicks. One holds one breath during the best parts, hoping it will not malfunction and ruin the whole evening. One fears for the performers, halfway expecting it to devour them.
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