Wagner
The Ring: Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold)
Erica Challis takes us through the story and music of the first of Wagner's epic four Ring Cycle operas. In Das Rheingold the theft of precious gold from three Rhine maidens launches us into a world… Video, Audio
WAGNER: Overture, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Giordano Bellincampi. Audio
WAGNER arr Felix Mottl: Wesendonck Lieder
Performed by Simon O'Neill with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lawrence Renes in a concert in Auckland Town Hall, 9 June 2018. Audio
Parsifal by Richard Wagner
A mystical journey tells the tale of a young man destined to renew a brotherhood of knights charged with guarding the relics of Christ’s last days. Video
Coming up
Musical scholar Alex Ross
Alex Ross is the music critic for The New Yorker and the author of The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century. He will appear at the Auckland Writers Festival and talk about his latest work, on… Audio
Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner
In medieval Germany, the minnesinger Tannhäuser, having spent a year in the magical underground realm of Venus, the goddess of love, longs to return to the human world. Video
Coming up
Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner
The Prologue opera of Wagner's Ring Cycle is performed in Chicago in a new production by David Pountney Video
Coming up
The Wagner Tuba
Erica Challis takes a look at the instrument Wagner invented especially for his orchestra. Audio
WAGNER: The Mastersingers of Nuremburg
Walther falls in love with Eva and when he discovers that she will marry the winner of the Mastersingers’ song competition, he determines to be that man. Video
Coming up
Der Fliegende Holländer by Wagner
A mysterious sea-captain sails the oceans under a curse, allowed ashore only once every seven years to look for the true love which can redeem him Video
Wagner's Tristan and Isolde
Based on a medieval legend, this epic tragedy of love and death changed the course of music history Video
Coming up
Interrupted Cadences - Falling on their feet
John Drummond explores critical moments in the history of Western music when things might well have turned out differently. Falling on their feet. From the sixteenth century to the nineteenth… Audio
Wagner and Hotels - Stuttgart
In Stuttgart, Wagner's debts were catching up with him. Audio
Wagner and Hotels - La Spezia
In La Spezia a walk by the harbour may have inspired the opening of the Ring Cycle Audio
Wagner and Hotels - Chemnitz
In Chemnitz the composer narrowly avoids arrest after his involvement in the Dresden Uprising Audio
Heath Lees on Wagner
Heath Lees is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Auckland, and well-known to RNZ Concert listeners for his enlightening and entertaining radio programmes. He's also founder of the Wagner… Audio
Black Caps win first test
New Zealand has won the first cricket test against Sri Lanka in Dunedin by 122 runs.
Simon Romanos: Great Sopranos
Simon looks at three of the finest operatic sopranos in history, all named Joan. Audio
The Best of Upbeat for 12 June 2015
Upbeat broadcasts from Queenstown's Michael Hill International Violin Competition, before Eva speaks to playwright Jamie McCaskill and American Wagnerian soprano Christine Goerke. Audio
