Wagner vs. Wagner

Overview

The performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle by Opera Australia is shaping up to be one of the most hotly anticipated events of Melbourne 2013 cultural calendar, inspiring a full-blown festival complete with art exhibits, lectures and even a boxing match. Not to be outdone, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image will present its own Wagnerian program consisting of two vastly different documentaries as well as a talk on the influence the composer has had on the movies.

Lessons of Darkness, from director Werner Herzog, is a surreal 50 minute meditation on the first Gulf War that combines awe-inspiring images of Kuwait’s burning oil fields with Wagner’s evocative music. On the lighter side of things is Patrick McGrady’s Wagner & Me, wherein British comedian Stephen Fry chronicles the composer’s life, works and legacy.

The third event on the program is a presentation by Dr. David Kram, musical director of the Melbourne Chamber Choir. An expert on Wagner, Kram’s talk will highlight the use of Wagner’s music in films such as Lars von Trier’s Melancholia and Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.