"When I conduct Wagner's music, I'm drawn to the excess and the extreme commitment in his music...
​a luxuriance of melody and an opulent use of leitmotifs." - Marin Alsop, NPR

​A Composer Fit For a King: Wagner and Ludwig II is a through-composed symphonic play in Four Acts with a cast of three professional actors in  the roles of Richard Wagner, King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his Cabinet Secretary (a professed enemy of Wagner) Herr Pfeffermeister.  

The backstage drama of the larger-than-life composer-patron relationship between King Ludwig and Wagner offers a fascinating glimpse into the off-stage sagas surrounding the creation of the Ring Cycle and the founding of Bayreuth -- both enterprises funded in large part by the fortunes of the seemingly sane King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

The Conductor is a featured “player” with scripted narratives re musical, psychological and historical insights that propel the music, dramatic action and story forward.

The musical selections include orchestral excerpts from the Ring Cycle.

WORLD PREMIERE 
APRIL 2013

Marin Alsop
Music Director & Conductor
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Playwright & Stage Director: 
Didi Balle

April 19, 2013: 
Strathmore Performing Arts Center 

April 20, 2013: 
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore


Commission: 
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Music Director  
Marin Alsop

Cast
Richard Wagner (Richard Poe)
 King Ludwig II (Pomme Koch) 
and his
​Cabinet Minister, Herr Pfeffermeister  (Tony Tsendeas)