"They Screamed Their Delight–Wagnerism, Women, and the Late Gilded Age" Malkin Lecture Series
Park Avenue Armory
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It is unsurprising that, early in its history, the Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory hosted “monster” concerts featuring the music of Wagner. The late Gilded Age was the heyday of Wagnerism in America. Anton Seidl, the raven-haired high priest of New York’s Wagner cult, led summer concerts at Coney Island fourteen times a week; Wagner Nights sold out the 3,000-seat seaside Music Pavilion. When Tristan was given at the Met, a religious silence followed the final curtain fall–after which women in the audience “stood on their chairs and screamed their delight for what seemed hours” (The Musical Courier). In fact, Wagnerism in America was a progressive, even subversive, women’s movement. Joseph Horowitz will share a recording and inquire: How was the Liebestod experienced in 1890?
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Schedule
December 09, 2008 from 18:00 to 20:00