Lauritz Melchior in Context

Lauritz Melchior in Context

Lauritz Melchior was ubiquitous in US Wagner performances for 25 years, dominating the Heldentenor roles at the Metropolitan and elsewhere. Think of a Siegfried or Tristan, and you’re likely to think of Melchior, who is often spoken of as if he’s the only Heldentenor worth hearing. We’ll listen to recordings by Melchior and by a number of older and younger tenors to get a sense of how he fits into the historical record of Wagner singing.

This presentation will be packed with musical examples – as Lisa puts it: “It will be an exercise in listening with the added perspective on the size of tenor careers and their impact.”

Our speaker is Lisa Hirsch – a Wagner Society Member.  Ms. Hirsch is a technical writer for a large search engine company.  In her spare time Lisa writes music reviews for the essential Bay Area Culture Publication – San Francisco Classical Voice and she also sings with the vocal group Chora Nova.  Lisa Hirsch studied music at Brandeis University and SUNY Stonybrook.

Please note, this was originally scheduled for July 7, however due to personal scheduling changes, Lisa Hirsch has graciously agreed to move her talk to November and we really appreciate that!