Mary Lambert Gets Wagnerian In Her "Secrets" Music Video

Wagnerian Tribute: Mary Lambert in her music video for "Secrets"

Seattle-based singer Mary Lambert released her debut album Heart on My Sleeve in October 2014. Featured on the album was the single "Secrets," which peaked at number one on U.S. Dance charts. She is a declared Christian and out lesbian. Often described as a mix of Adele, Tori Amos and James Blake, the singer often writes about her own personal experiences of early childhood sexual abuse, body image, bipolar disorder, and her sexuality. She taught herself how to play piano and write songs at age 6. She is originally from Everett, Washington, where she attended Mariner High School between 2003 and 2007. Her mother is a recording artist. Lambert moved to Seattle, Washington, to study at Cornish College of the Arts where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Composition. In the music video for "Secrets," you see a clip of Mary Lambert assuming the role of a Valkyrie from a Wagner opera. Watch the video, after the jump. [Source]

L.A. Opera Gets An Admirer In Alleged-Murderer Robert Durst

И смело ей себя вверяю: Durst took a page out
 of Tatyana's handbook and wrote a letter.

"In a scrawling, handwritten letter to The Times, murder suspect Robert Durst doesn’t speak of the serious charges he now faces but instead writes wistfully of his days in Los Angeles. The real estate scion muses about watching the city lights, the hopeless traffic congestion, spending time at a Sunset Boulevard coffee shop and his love of attending the opera. 'I loved watching the traffic come up La Cienega and mush into Santa Monica,' he wrote in his two-page letter, postmarked nearly two weeks after his arrest in the mysterious murder of author Susan Berman, found shot in the head at her Benedict Canyon home 15 years ago. Durst blames L.A.’s political and business leaders for the absence of professional football in Los Angeles, ridicules a performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle as being a 'true example of Hollywood gone berserk' and ruminates on his own medical condition. 'I have said nothing about charges, crimes or trials,' he adds. 'I’m sure you know what your abilities are to visit me when I get to L.A.' But it seems unlikely Durst will be coming to California anytime soon. Nearly after a month after his arrest, the 71-year-old subject of the HBO documentary The Jinx was in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Thursday to plead not guilty to state weapons charges, a case that has delayed his extradition to California." [Source] Experts say that Durst is trying to play crazy. Perhaps he's taking cues from the ID Channel. See an excerpt  of the note after the jump.

Tax Slayer Uses Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" In Commercial

Music underlying the advertisement is the "Walkürenritt" from the beginning of Act III in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. No guarantee if it will help you put Ikea furniture together though.

Lindsay Ammann Apartment Shops On "House Hunters International"

Season 51, Episode 11: "Till Death Do Us Part, in Stuttgart, Germany" (March 25, 2013) "While Lindsay was singing with the Pittsburgh Opera, she met and fell in love with a young patron named Linas. Shortly after, the love birds flew to his native Lithuania to live with his family and plan their wedding. One week after they tied the knot, the couple was en route to Stuttgart, Germany where Lindsay accepted a job at the city's Opera House. But, before she can begin work, the newlyweds must agree on an apartment that's quiet and close to public transit. With rentals hard to come by, will they be in for marital bliss or property pains? Find out, when House Hunters International takes the stage in Stuttgart, Germany." [Source]

Helen Traubel Singt Brunnhildes Schlussgesang Aus Gotterdammerung

Seattle Opera Continues Wagnerian Legacy into 2014

Greer Grimsley as Wotan at Seattle Opera
(Photo: Rozarii Lynch/Seattle Opera)

"Seattle Opera, also known as America's House of Wagner, brings back its popular production of the composer's Ring cycle in 2013. It's the same production that premiered in 2001, but with a few cast changes. Alwyn Mellor, as Brünnhilde, and Stefan Vinke, as Siegfried, will make their company debuts in 2013. The 2013 Ring will be the ninth and final cycle overseen by Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins. He plans to retire in September, 2014. The cast includes: Asher Fisch (Conductor); Stephen Wadsworth (Director); Alwyn Mellor* (Brünnhilde), Stefan Vinke* (Siegfried), Greer Grimsley (Wotan), Stephanie Blythe (Fricka), Stuart Skelton (Siegmund), Margaret Jane Wray (Sieglinde), Richard Paul Fink (Alberich). *Seattle Opera debut

Wagnerians Greer Grimsley and Stephanie Blythe (Photo: Rozarii Lynch/Seattle Opera)

Tickets to the 2013 Ring will be available in fall 2012. Seattle Opera also announced a production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in August, 2014. Not seen in Seattle for 25 years, it is Wagner’s only comedy. The cast will be announced next year." [Source]

San Francisco Opera Announces Wagnerian Cast Change

Tenor replacement: Jay Hunter Morris

"David Gockley, General Director of San Francisco Opera, has announced a casting change in the Company’s upcoming presentation of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). American tenor Jay Hunter Morris will now sing the title role of “Siegfried” replacing acclaimed Wagernian tenor Ian Storey, who was originally announced to sing the role in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, the third and fourth operas of the composer’s epic four-opera cycle. Mr. Storey will only sing in Götterdämmerung, a performance that will mark both his Company and role debuts. The premiere of Siegfried is slated for Sunday, May 29th followed by the premiere of Götterdämmerung a week later on Sunday, June 5th. Three complete cycles of the Ring will be presented at the War Memorial Opera House from June 14th to July 3rd, 2011." [Source]