The Rhine, Wagner and the Rhine Maidens!

A reprise of WSWDC chairman Jim Holman's lecture on "The Rhine, Wagner, and the Rhinemaidens" presented in 2022 at the Kennedy Center's RiverRun Festival. The mighty Rhine river is among the world's iconic waterways. Since Roman times, it has been at the center of the economic, military and cultural development of western Europe. From the Middle Ages, it has occupied a special position in the evolution of German art and cultural identity. Today the Rhine is closely associated with Richard Wagner's monumental opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung. And no characters in The Ring, or any other artwork, are more closely associated with the Rhine river than the Rhinemaidens, the seductive nymphs who guard the magical gold in the river's depths.  Mr. Holman's talk will focus on the Rhine, Wagner, and especially on the Rhinemaidens, both their music and their crucial roles in the drama of The Ring.

A live Q & A with Jim Holman will follow. We hope you'll join us!