Wagner massively amplified traditional expressive devices from the Baroque period, such as suspensions and delayed dissonance resolution, by using larger time spans and a dominant role for instrumentation.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Richard Wagner, the composer, believed that drama in opera stemmed primarily from the music, not the text, with notes having the greatest dramatic impact.
Compositional Technique
Wagner's melodic style and his love of complexity and ambiguity distinguish his music from that of the Baroque, adding a classical sense of form and romantic expression.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded using 24-bit / 96 kHz technology, which offers a dynamic range up to 48 dB greater and 256 times the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings.
Compositional Technique
The Overture to 'Columbus' by Wagner departs from the typical Italian operatic overture structure, featuring a free alternation of slow and fast passages instead of a slow introduction followed by a fast sonata form.
Cultural Impact
Wagner's 'Eine Faust-Ouvertüre', along with Berlioz's 'Symphonie fantastique', became a prime example of 19th-century program music after 1850.
Performer Biography
Neeme Järvi, the conductor on this album, is the head of a musical dynasty and has an impressive discography of over 450 recordings, including complete symphony cycles and arrangements of Wagner operas.
