Beyond love and power: The Philosophy of the Ring cycle
Aug
19
1:00 PM13:00

Beyond love and power: The Philosophy of the Ring cycle

‘Beyond love and power: The Philosophy of the Ring cycle’ - a lecture presented by Michael Steinberg.

Wagner’s theoretical writings are heavy going, but if you look past his prose style you find an interesting and original response to early German idealism and Romanticism, a coherent philosophy which shapes the dramatic action of the Ring cycle and the inner and outer struggles of its characters. Drawing on his forthcoming book The Philosopher's Ring—Wagner as Thinker and Dramatist, Michael Steinberg will offer fresh perspectives on this inexhaustible work and its unique—and still relevant—fusion of the personal and the political. 

Michael Steinberg has published and presented on social theory, ideology, religion, the history of ideas, and classical German philosophy, especially that of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. His most recent book is Enlightenment Interrupted: The Lost Moment of German Idealism and the Reactionary Present, and his occasional essays on broader topics appear in the on-line Philosophical Salon.

View Event →
Sounds of the World: Leitmotifs within Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen
Aug
20
1:00 PM13:00

Sounds of the World: Leitmotifs within Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen

Explore the sounds and themes that occupy the vast world of Wagner’s Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen). From the playful Rhinemaidens to the majestic Great Hall of Valhalla and beyond, we will see how the music is not only a wonder on the ears but also a story-telling element filled with meaning and intention. 

View Event →
Lecture-Recital: Reyer's Sigurd
Aug
21
1:00 PM13:00

Lecture-Recital: Reyer's Sigurd

The Nibelungenlied, the first masterwork of German national literature, inspired the arts of storytelling, painting, drama and art throughout Europe. Its most famous adaptations are Fritz Lang's silent film from 1924 and, of course, Wagner's Ring Cycle, especially Gotterdammerung, which Tundi celebrates as part of its 2025 Festival. Little-known, but due to be rediscovered, is the "other" opera that retells the legend of Siegfried. Kevin Courtemanche, a Tundi reperotry company member, will expound on the Nibelungenlied and reveal a character study of Siegfried, as retold in the two operas that draw from and serve this original source, illustrated with musical excerpts of the timeless hero Siegfried.

View Event →
Nietzsche and Wagner: The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music
Aug
23
1:00 PM13:00

Nietzsche and Wagner: The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music

Nietzsche's philosophical output is book-ended by his relationship with Wagner. It begins with The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music  and ends, of course, with Nietzsche Contra Wagner. In this lecture, I will focus on The Birth of Tragedy which was based on two lectures on Greek Tragedy that Wagner and Cosima had listened to and then encouraged Nietzsche to publish. I will explore Nietzsche's ideas on the Dionysian and the Apollonian as the core concepts of Greek tragedy, and then take us full circle to the beginning of our Ring Journey at TUNDI: exploring the connections/oppositions between the Greek and the German in mythology, notions of the tragic (vs the epic), all within these German operas performed in a 'Greek' theater. But here, I will also suggest that while there is much harmony between the two, in The Birth of Tragedy, we can explore the question of difference. And through recognition of difference, we will prepare the way for our Ring Cycle experience: a place where meaning and sensation are not circumscribed; a place where meaning and sensation can bloom. 

View Event →

Götterdämmerung - Wagner in Vermont 2024
Aug
24
3:00 PM15:00

Götterdämmerung - Wagner in Vermont 2024

The OMEGA... Götterdämmerung
Götterdämmerung is a fierce, enthralling work with enormous implications. As the Gods approach their end, everything is at stake for the cosmos, and for humanity.

Brünnhilde consummates her love with Siegfried, only to be kidnapped from the circle of Magic Fire that Wotan had conjured to protect her. She finds herself on the banks of the Rhine in a decaying tribal court. Siegfried is already there: he has been ensnared and poisoned by his hosts. In a shocking sequence of betrayals, Brünnhilde learns what it is to be human. We meet Hagen: a dark, self-confident agent of evil in his slow and ruthless pursuit of the Ring.

The final scene, Brünnhilde's self-immolation with her horse Grane, closes the immense cycle with transcendent radiance. The music tells us that, as the Gods are toppled from their thrones, and the Ring is returned to its home in the depths of the Rhine, a woman saves the world to usher in a new era. The experience is beautiful and inspiring beyond description; for many people, it is life-changing.

View Event →
Das Rheingold - Wagner in Vermont 2024
Aug
23
7:00 PM19:00

Das Rheingold - Wagner in Vermont 2024

The ALPHA... Das Rheingold

The Gold sits deep in the River Rhine: primeval, and playfully tended by the three Daughters of the Rhine. We will meet the Dwarfs of Nibelheim who live below, the Gods who dwell above, and the Giants, who stride the surface of the earth. Any good order is shattered by a world-shaking transgression motivated by lust, greed, and alienation. Alberich - the Nibelung - is the transgressor: he has stolen the Gold from the Daughters of the Rhine, and forged an all-powerful Ring. He will in turn be robbed and humiliated, and imbue the Ring with a curse. The tribes and families continually reposition themselves, fighting to possess the Ring. Families and worlds are destroyed; warnings and interventions make no difference - nobody cares! We have to ask: do we care as audience witnesses to this confounding spectacle, saturated with self-absorption, mistrust and death, sprinkled with joy and comedy, and confronting us with such huge questions?

View Event →
Götterdämmerung - Wagner in Vermont 2024
Aug
17
3:00 PM15:00

Götterdämmerung - Wagner in Vermont 2024

The OMEGA... Götterdämmerung

Götterdämmerung is a fierce, enthralling work with enormous implications. As the Gods approach their end, everything is at stake for the cosmos, and for humanity.

Brünnhilde consummates her love with Siegfried, only to be kidnapped from the circle of Magic Fire that Wotan had conjured to protect her. She finds herself on the banks of the Rhine in a decaying tribal court. Siegfried is already there: he has been ensnared and poisoned by his hosts. In a shocking sequence of betrayals, Brünnhilde learns what it is to be human. We meet Hagen: a dark, self-confident agent of evil in his slow and ruthless pursuit of the Ring.

The final scene, Brünnhilde's self-immolation with her horse Grane, closes the immense cycle with transcendent radiance. The music tells us that, as the Gods are toppled from their thrones, and the Ring is returned to its home in the depths of the Rhine, a woman saves the world to usher in a new era. The experience is beautiful and inspiring beyond description; for many people, it is life-changing.

View Event →
Das Rheingold - Wagner in Vermont 2024
Aug
16
7:00 PM19:00

Das Rheingold - Wagner in Vermont 2024

The ALPHA... Das Rheingold

The Gold sits deep in the River Rhine: primeval, and playfully tended by the three Daughters of the Rhine. We will meet the Dwarfs of Nibelheim who live below, the Gods who dwell above, and the Giants, who stride the surface of the earth. Any good order is shattered by a world-shaking transgression motivated by lust, greed, and alienation. Alberich - the Nibelung - is the transgressor: he has stolen the Gold from the Daughters of the Rhine, and forged an all-powerful Ring. He will in turn be robbed and humiliated, and imbue the Ring with a curse. The tribes and families continually reposition themselves, fighting to possess the Ring. Families and worlds are destroyed; warnings and interventions make no difference - nobody cares! We have to ask: do we care as audience witnesses to this confounding spectacle, saturated with self-absorption, mistrust and death, sprinkled with joy and comedy, and confronting us with such huge questions?

View Event →
Siegfried
Aug
24
4:00 PM16:00

Siegfried

An orphaned boy, brought up deep in the forest, is growing up. He asks uncomfortable questions as he starts to seek independence from his foster-parent, Mime. The boy is Siegfried, who will fully emancipate himself from Mime (come and find out how!), slay a dragon, learn the speech of a spirit-bird to guide him, and unwittingly enter the cosmic struggle between immortals for the baleful Ring. Starting at 4.00pm, there will be breaks for dining and refreshment of 90 minutes and 25 minutes between acts.

View Event →
Die Walküre
Aug
22
4:00 PM16:00

Die Walküre

Wotan's favored daughter, Brünnhilde, has to deal with her father's controlling nature and malevolent actions. At great cost to herself, she asserts her values of love, freedom, and emancipation. This most serious work of the Ring Cycle starts in rough woodland homesteads, and ascends to epic, cosmological heights. Starting at 4.00pm, there will be breaks for dining and refreshment of 90 and 25 minutes between acts.

View Event →
Lecture: The Witch of It
Aug
22
11:00 AM11:00

Lecture: The Witch of It

"The Witch of It": A Historical Analysis of Witchcraft, Folklore, and Feminism in the the Evolution of Opera 
Witchcraft has historically been a taboo topic of Western European religion and culture. Focusing mainly on the 19th century, the lecture recital will explain how the ideas of witchcraft, feminism, and gender merged through political, religious, and secular influences throughout Europe.

View Event →
Siegfried
Aug
20
4:00 PM16:00

Siegfried

An orphaned boy, brought up deep in the forest, is growing up. He asks uncomfortable questions as he starts to seek independence from his foster-parent, Mime. The boy is Siegfried, who will fully emancipate himself from Mime (come and find out how!), slay a dragon, learn the speech of a spirit-bird to guide him, and unwittingly enter the cosmic struggle between immortals for the baleful Ring. Starting at 4.00pm, there will be breaks for dining and refreshment of 90 minutes and 25 minutes between acts.

View Event →
Lecture: Queering Wagner
Aug
20
1:00 PM13:00

Lecture: Queering Wagner

In this lecture, Professor Patrick Cheng will explore the historical connections between queerness and Richard Wagner.  Topics include gay male devotees to Wagner’s operas from the 19th century to today; the homosexuality of Wagner’s son Siegfried as well as his royal patron King Ludwig II of Bavaria; Wagner’s fetishism with respect to pink satin and rose perfumes; and the unorthodox sexual relationships in Wagner’s life and in his works, including Die Walküre and Siegfried.

View Event →