Wagner’s legacy in cinema and gaming

Before soundtracks, there was opera. The rich storytelling music for films and games owes more to Richard Wagner than to almost any other composer. Come to Lyric and experience the power of his force.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far — no. It was here on Earth, and it was around 200 years ago. Long before the Imperial March announced the impending arrival of Darth Vader, or the rocking "One-Winged Angel" theme preceded Sephiroth going into a fight in Final Fantasy VII, there were musical themes for major characters. These leitfmotifs — short musical ideas tied to a specific character, object, place, or idea — sometimes announced a character’s presence. Sometimes it meant they were about to appear onstage or onscreen, and sometimes it even meant that someone else was just thinking about the other character. But over time the technique became a powerful and enduring element of musical storytelling.

This use of recurring themes existed before Richard Wagner (1818-1883) came along, but the German composer took the technique to higher levels of expression and power than anyone who had come before. In massive works like The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, and Tristan and Isolde — not to mention the musical Mt. Everest known as the Ring Cycle — Wagner blazed a trail that is still being walked today.

Sailors' Chorus ("Steurmann! Lass die Wacht!") from Wagner's The Flying Dutchman

On November 20 and 22, Lyric Opera of Chicago will gather its forces — the full Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and one, and one amazingly powerful soprano — to present Wagner: Myth & Music, a two-hour sampler of the music that influenced works ranging from Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now to Super Mario Bros — not to mention Bugs Bunny.

Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" by the (Virtual) Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra

The practice of “through-composed” music — or music that never stops, unlike the older, stand-and-deliver opera structure of separate arias and recitatives — is another Wagner legacy. His music flows beneath the action, swelling and receding with emotion. This style is frequently the technique for conveying yearning and suspense on the big screen and in the world of gaming today. Pioneered by early film composers like Max Steiner in King Kong, today the sound worlds can range from Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings score to the electronic soundscapes of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross in The Social Network.

Perhaps no genre’s music is more aligned with the epic operas of Wagner than video gaming, where series like Final Fantasy, composed by Nobuo Uematsu, rely heavily on themes that players come to associate with characters and places across decades of work. Interactive sound design often means that the music can even morph along with the action, fully immersing the player in a sound world that adapts to their game play.

And it’s fair to say that nothing beats hearing all this music live. The November concerts at Lyric will showcase the OG musical storyteller in grand fashion, with excerpts from some of Wagner’s most famed and unforgettable works including Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tannhäuser, and the Ring’s dazzling final opera Götterdämmerung. They’ll be lead by internationally renowned conductor Maestro Alexander Soddy, a specialist in this music. Star soprano Christine Goerke, who previously sang Brünnhilde in the Ring at Lyric, returns as soloist.

The New York Times raved about Goerke’s Chicago appearance, noting that her singing was “sumptuous, powerful and exciting,” and praised her “steely brilliance” and “tremulous intensity,” just a few of the reasons that she has become a Chicago favorite.

Don’t miss this chance to hear the Wagner you love — or to experience the Wagner you don’t yet know — for two performances only!