Every fan of Marvel Comics knows that Thor’s hammer is called Mjolnir. At the climax of Richard Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” Thor (here called Donner) summons a thunderstorm in order to clear the air so that the gods may enter Valhalla. Feel the power of Mjolnir!
Tag: Wagner
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13 Winter Classics Perfect for a Snowy Day
So, what to listen to on a day like today, with gravity-defying snow squalls and raging winds? Here’s a baker’s dozen worth of suggestions, with audio links, posted alphabetically by composer.
Sir Edward Elgar – The Snow
Howard Hanson – Symphony No. 1 “Nordic”
Icelandic Traditional – Edda: Baldur’s Dream, rendered by Sequentia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1qm–InMLQDavid Lang – The Little Match Girl Passion
Franz Liszt – Transcendental Etudes: Chasse-neige
Sergei Prokofiev – Alexander Nevsky: Battle on the Ice
Henry Purcell – King Arthur: Song of the Cold Genius
Einojuhani Rautavaara – Cantus Arcticus (Concerto for Birds and Orchestra):
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 2
Georgy Sviridov – The Snow Storm
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Sinfonia Antarctica
Richard Wagner – Richard Wagner, Die Walküre: Act I, “Winterstürme”
You’ll be able to hear some of “Alexander Nevsky,” as written for the film (as opposed to Prokofiev’s concert arrangement), along with another work by Sviridov, “Time Forward,” on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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Carlos Païta Rediscovered Firebrand Conductor
Even somebody who knows a lot about a subject learns something new all the time. One of my latest “discoveries” is the conductor Carlos Païta (1932-2015), the Argentinean firebrand who made some breathtaking records during the era of London “Phase 4,” but has since largely fallen through the cracks.
Païta settled in Switzerland, where he was attended to by Furtwängler’s widow, and a special label, Lodia, was founded to reissue both his studio-forged treasures and live concert recordings.
His recordings of Wagner and Berlioz, which I discovered while sorting through a box of duplicates culled from donations to WWFM, knocked me back on my heels. Who is this guy? There is abundant evidence posted on YouTube. Païta’s conducting technique while rehearsing Beethoven’s 5th symphony is way, way over the top, but another video of his conducting Weber’s “Oberon Overture” suggests he may have dialed it down a bit during his actual concerts. His Janáček is stunning.
In fact, everything I have sampled with him has been exceptional, yet somehow this musical colossus never settled in with a major orchestra. How could he not have enjoyed a major career?
Païta would have been 85 this year. Head over to YouTube, search under his name, and prepare for a “wasted” Saturday.
Or tune in to WWFM – The Classical Network on Monday, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, to hear his extraordinary Wagner recordings on Richard Wagner’s birthday. Really, he will spoil it for you when you try to return to many of your previous favorites.
Carlos Païta, keeping the warhorses fresh:
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Wagner’s Lost Symphonies Hear Early Works
If you’ve passed a good deal of your Sunday enjoying Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” on WWFM, perhaps you would be interested to drop back before bedtime to hear one of his symphonies.
What? Wagner wrote symphonies? That’s right. He took a crack at writing two of them, in a Beethovenian style, before finding his niche as a revolutionary composer of opera.
Wagner’s Symphony in E will be featured tonight on “The Lost Chord,” alongside early attempts at symphonies by Gustav Holst and Claude Debussy – judging from their mature works, three figures perhaps least likely to attempt sonata form. Impetuous youth!
Tune in, if you’re still up for it, this Sunday night at 11:00 EDT – one hour later than usual, thanks to the outrageous length of the opera – for “Bold Heads on Young Shoulders,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and on wwfm.org.
IMAGES: Symphonies by the young (clockwise from left) Wagner, Holst and Debussy will be heard tonight on “The Lost Chord”
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Is Wagner’s Music Bad For You?
Is Wagner’s music bad for you? Probably.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/22/wagner-bad-for-your-mental-health
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