Free Wagner Lecture Tonight at UAO

Alexandra LoBianco (Brünnhilde) & Bass Timothy Bruno (Wotan)
Photo © Ron Lindsey, 2013
All Rights Reserved

Join Union Avenue Opera and Dr. Scott Stearman tonight for a free interactive presentation leading up to the St. Louis premiere of Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre, reduced and adapted by Jonathan Dove. Die Walküre is the second installment of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle which the company started last summer with its production of Das Rheingold.

Dr. Scott Stearman

Stearman, senior pastor of Kirkwood Baptist Church and adjunct faculty member of Webster University and Missouri Baptist University, returns to UAO after his popular lectures last season to lead us on an exploration of themes in the Ring Cycle and Die Walküre. This lecture begins tonight at 7 p.m. on August 8 in the Fellowship Gallery at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd., and is FREE and open to the public. Attendees will be treated to a guest performance by select cast members of Die Walküre.

Power, Polytheism, Polyamory, & Impotence in Wagner’s Valkyrie.

Can you truly love more than one person? Does love oppose power? Why do leaders fall victim to seductive crass power instead of seeking mutual agreement? Does father really know best? In this talk, Stearman will address these questions as he leads us on an exploration of themes in the Ring cycle and Die Walküre. This second installment in the cycle deals with questions most of us face regularly: questions of love and marriage, sex and responsibility, power and politics, and parents and honor. Die Walküre is a rich, multi-layered work that touches on aspects central to our communal and personal lives. Mr. Stearman’s talk will highlight a few of these in anticipation of the enlightening and stirring performances of Wagner’s Valkyrian masterpiece. There will be a Q&A session following the lecture.

Die Walküre opens August 16 and runs August 17, 23 and 24 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. Performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in German with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.

Your "Das Rheingold" Media Hub

St. Louis media is buzzing over Union Avenue Opera's production of Wagner's Das Rheingold. Don't want to miss anything? Want to learn more? Look no further than this blog post for links to news stories and multimedia.

PRINT MEDIA

• Patricia Rice of the St. Louis Beacon interviews the artists of Das Rheingold and provides history on Wagner's Ring as well as its performance history in St. Louis.
• Sarah Bryan Miller interviews Scott Schoonover and Rheingold stage director Karen Coe Miller for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

RADIO & AUDIO

• Jim Althoff of Cityscape interviews Karen Coe Miller and Wagner lecturer Scott Stearman.
• Scott Schoonover guests on KDHX's Break A Leg with hosts Deborah Sharn and Scott Miller to discuss the production and the Jonathan Dove reduction of the score.
• Those who missed Scott Stearman's August 9th lecture--Sublime, Beauty from a Sinister Soul?--can hear it now via YouTube.

Want a chance to hobnob with cast and crew of Das Rheingold on Opening Night? UAO hosts an Opening Night Reception on August 17 after the performance at Tavern of Fine Arts. Click here for more information!

UAO's FREE Educational Series continues Thursday night, August 16 at 7:00pm at Union Avenue Opera, with Scott Stearman's lecture On God, Gods, and Ecstatically Singing for Sex: Wagner’s Love of Love in the Ring Cycle. Glen Bauer, Ph.D., Associate Chair of the Webster University Music Department will also give lectures one hour before each Friday performance (August 17/24) at Union Avenue Opera. All lectures are FREE and open to ticket holders and the general public.

Das Rheingold opens August 17 and runs August 18, 24, 25 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. All performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in German with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.

UAO Kicks Off Free Wagner Lecture Series Tonight

Union Avenue Opera kicks off its Wagner Lecture Series this evening, beginning with the first of two free educational series presented by Scott Stearman, Senior Pastor of Kirkwood Baptist Church. 

Thursday, August 9 at 7:00 p.m.: Sublime, Beauty from a Sinister Soul? Wagner’s music, his Anti-Semitism, and his relationship to Nietzsche

In this interactive presentation, Scott Stearman will begin by discussing why, 199 years after Wagner’s birth, Wagner is still one of the most venerated composers of all time and one of the most despised. He has been rightly honored for transforming the operatic and classical music world. Wagner has been blamed for contributing to what happened in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. His reputation suffered because of his relationship with a much younger Friedrich Nietzsche – Nietzsche ultimately rejected Wagner on philosophical principles. Their relationship gives us insight into what Wagner came to believe and what ultimately he was attempting to do with his unparalleled compositions.

Attendees will be given a first look at the set and treated to a guest performance* by the cast of Das Rheingold (*August 9 only).

Scott Stearman

About Scott Stearman
Scott Stearman has been Senior Pastor of Kirkwood Baptist Church since 2003. He has served churches in Oklahoma, Athens, Greece, and Paris, France (1995-2003). He is an adjunct faculty member at Webster University in religion and Missouri Baptist University in humanities. Stearman earned a Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University with majors in religion and history, a Masters of Divinity in biblical languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctor of Philosophy in ancient philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. His interest in Wagner dates back to his “Tristan transformation” in his late 20s. in recent years he has been privileged to see the Ring cycle at Lyric Opera and Metropolitan Opera in addition to making the pilgrimage to Bayreuth, Germany twice.

Stearman will be presenting a second lecture On God, Gods, and Ecstatically Singing for Sex: Wagner’s Love of Love in the Ring Cycle on August 16 at 7:00 p.m. Stay tuned to Operatic Saint Louis for more information.

Das Rheingold opens August 17 and runs August 18, 24, 25 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. All performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in German with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.

UAO Offers "Das Rheingold" Lecture Series & Opening Night Reception

Union Avenue Opera's production of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold opens a week from this Friday. The company has planned a variety of educational lecture series surrounding this production as well as an Opening Night Reception that you will not want to miss.

Opening Night Reception 

Mingle with your fellow opera lovers and the cast of Das Rheingold following the opening night performance on August 17, 2012 at Tavern of Fine Arts, 313 Belt Ave (.65 miles from UAO).

Tickets are $25* each and include dessert buffet and two drink tickets. Visit the UAO website at unionavenueopera.org or call the box office at 314-361-2881 for more information. Reservation Required.

*Tickets to Das Rheingold not included in price of reception ticket. Das Rheingold tickets sold separately.

Want to learn more about Wagner and the Ring?

Free Educational Series

August 9 at 7:00 P.M.
Sublime, Beauty from a Sinister Soul? Wagner's music, his Anti-Semitism, and his relationship to Nietzsche

August 16 at 7:00 P.M.
On God, Gods, and Ecstatically Singing for Sex: Wagner's Love of Love in the Ring Cycle

Presented by Scott Stearman, Senior Pastor of Kirkwood Baptist Church, both lectures are FREE and open to the public. Attendees will be given a first look at the set and treated to a guest performance* by members of the cast of Das Rheingold (*August 9 only). Lectures take place in the Fellowship Gallery of Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd.

Free Friday Night Lectures

Friday, August 17 at 7:00 P.M.
Friday, August 24 at 7:00 P.M.

Join operagoers in the Fellowship Gallery for a pre-performance lecture led by Glen Bauer, Ph.D., Associate Chair, Department of Music at Webster university prior to the Friday night performances. All lectures are FREE and open to both ticket holders and the public.

Have General Admission tickets? Stop by the Box Office prior to the lecture to receive a placard to reserve your space in the theater before attending the lecture.

Want to play trivia and win fabulous prizes?

Connect to Union Avenue Opera on Facebook and Twitter to play Wagnerian trivia in the "Countdown to Wagner" leading up to Opening Night!

Das Rheingold opens August 17 and runs August 18, 24, 25 at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. All performances begin at 8:00pm. Production sung in German with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.