WAGNER’S RING CYCLE
WAGNER’S DREAM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 @ 7:00PM
Wagner’s Dream
A documentary by Susan Froemke
The stakes could not be higher as visionary director Robert Lepage, some of the world’s greatest operatic artists, and the Metropolitan Opera tackle Wagner’s Ring cycle. An intimate look at the enormous theatrical and musical challenges of staging opera’s most monumental work, the film chronicles the quest to fulfill Wagner’s dream of a perfect Ring.
WAGNER’S RING CYCLE
GOTTERDAMMERUNG
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 @ 7:00PM
Siegfried and Brünnhilde’s love is torn apart by the curse of the ring. A trio of scheming humans separates the two heroes in a desperate attempt to steal the ring for themselves. Their villainous plan fails, but they succeed in murdering Siegfried. Heartbroken, Brünnhilde takes the ring and leaps into the hero’s funeral pyre, causing a global cataclysm and the twilight of the gods.
“The most theatrically effective staging of the four works in this epic series.” (The New York Times)
WAGNER’S RING CYCLE
SIEGFRIED
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 @ 7:00PM
Conducted by Fabio Luisi
Starring Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Patricia Bardon (Erda), Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried), Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Bryn Terfel (The Wanderer), Eric Owens (Alberich)
The young hero Siegfried grows up in the wilderness, raised by Alberich’s conniving brother Mime. He puts together the broken pieces of the sword Nothung, uses it to slay the fearsome dragon Fafner, and takes the ring for himself. To fulfill his destiny, he must overcome one more opponent—Wotan, now disguised as the Wanderer, who knows the world of the gods is coming to an end—and cross through the magic fire to awaken his true love, Brünnhilde.
WAGNER’S RING CYCLE
DIE WALKURE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 @ 7:00PM
Conducted by James Levine
Starring Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Jonas Kaufmann (Siegmund), Bryn Terfel (Wotan), Hans-Peter König (Hunding)
The mysterious hero Siegmund finds shelter in the strangely familiar arms of a lonely woman named Sieglinde. Their forbidden love leads Wotan’s daughter, the warrior maiden Brünnhilde, to defy morality and intervene on behalf of the hero. Brünnhilde’s transgression forces her father to choose between his love for his favorite daughter and his duty to his wife, the formidable goddess Fricka. Overcome with grief, Wotan takes away Brünnhilde’s godlike powers and puts her to sleep on a mountaintop, surrounded by a ring of magic fire that can only be crossed by the bravest of heroes.
WAGNER’S RING CYCLE
Das Rheingold
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 @ 7:00PM
In the first opera in the Ring cycle, the gods of Valhalla clash with underworld dwarves and brawny giants, with disastrous consequences. The evil Alberich steals gold from the Rhine and uses it to forge a ring of unimaginable power. Wotan, the king of the gods, uses magic to steal the ring, but Alberich places a curse that guarantees misery for whoever wears it. Wotan’s unwillingness to part with the ring leads him to break a contract with the giants who have built the gods’ new castle in the sky, setting in motion a chain of events that will end in his own destruction.
WALLANDER
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM
Kenneth Branagh returns to his remarkable Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated role as the soul-searching Swedish cop in Wallander III, with three gripping new Kurt Wallander cases based on the character created by bestselling novelist and father of the Nordic noir craze, Henning Mankell.
In An Event in Autumn (September 9), The Dogs of Riga (September 16) and Before the Frost(September 23), the somber inspector’s hard-won and fragile new hope is put to the test when the most brutal of crimes — and his own demons — are unearthed. But you’ve got to give the emotionally uneasy cop credit for even trying.
PAUL MCCARTNEY’S LIVE KISSES
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM
Paul McCartney’s Live Kisses captures the magical night of February 9 in the City of Angels – coincidentally, the 48th anniversary of The Beatles’ U.S. TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show no less –when Paul McCartney decided to bring Kisses On The Bottom, his newly released collection of pop standards and two originals, to life at the very same Capitol Studios where much of the album was created.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 @ 6:00PM
This week on MARKET WARRIORS, our pickers (Miller, John, Bob and Kevin) head to Brimfield, Massachusetts, home of the largest outdoor market in the world, for the first of a two-part series set in Brimfield. In this episode, the pickers struggle to find the right items to sell at Cowan’s Auction in Cincinnati, Ohio. As part of the challenge, the pickers are teamed up and tasked with finding art glass among the market’s 6000 vendors. Off-screen host Mark L. Walberg describes some notable picks, including examples of Bohemian art glass, a vintage scale and a handmade dollhouse.
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
SATURDAY & SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 1 & 2 @ 9:00PM
When the Dave Matthews Bandtook the ACL stage three years ago, it was the culmination of a long courtship process that finally allowed producer Terry Lickona to put a check mark on his wishlist. The long-running pop/jam band was touring its acclaimed record Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, its first following the death of founding member LeRoi Moore, and was ready to prove it wasn’t going to let tragedy slow it down. Firing on all cylinders, the band turned in a triumphant set including the raucous “Shake Me Like a Monkey,” the whimsical “Funny the Way It Is” and the life-affirming anthem “Why I Am,” a direct tribute to Moore.
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC
SUMMER NIGHT CONCERT 2012
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM
The outdoor concert under the stars in the magnificent baroque gardens of Imperial Schönbrunn Palace is free to thousands of attendees in Vienna, and serves the Orchestra’s objective of making classical music accessible to a broad spectrum of concertgoers beyond its usual, core audience. Dancers of the Vienna Ballet join the orchestra for the celebration.