Composing with wine

Jürgen Aumüller, the Schloss Wackerbarth cellarmaster, says: »Music and wine have a special connection that can be experienced and enjoyed with all the senses. Composers and cellarmasters are closely connected in spirit: while the one composes pure enjoyment for the ears with notes, the other uses grapes to please the nose and palate.« Schloss Wackerbarth is located in the heart of Saxony’s Weinstraße, called the Saxon Wine Trail, is one of the most intimate and beautiful wine regions in Germany. It has a centuries-old connection to art, music, and enjoyment, which no doubt influenced Richard Wagner, one of Saxony’s own. Wine was an inspiration for him, and his wine purveyors played a supporting sensory role in his works. Historians even know exactly what he ordered while writing »Parsifal«!

In the spirit of the composer, the new »Edition Wagner« is now a part of the WAGNER 22 Gesamtkunstwerk landscape. It retails at € 13.90 per bottle, and is available at the Opera House Ticket Office, for as long as supplies last. Orders may likewise be made online via the Schloss Wackerbarth website. You can try this special Schloss Wackerbarth Wagnerian wine in the Operncafé and the Oper Leipzig foyers, as well as at the Radisson Blu Hotel Leipzig and – while enjoying the view of the Opera House and Leipzig’s historic city center – at  the Wagner Lounge in the Felix Restaurant.

SCHLOSS WACKERBARTH

Schloss Wackerbarth is Europe’s first boutique experiential winery, and it carries on the tradition of one of Europe’s oldest sparkling wine cellars. The winery features the unique ensemble of a Baroque castle and garden grounds, as well as picturesque wine fields, and is home to a modern wine and sparkling wine production facility. The company looks back on over 850 years of Saxon winegrowing tradition, as well as 180 years of Bussard cellar tradition, preparing sparkling wines according to classic bottle fermentation procedures. The winery was recognized as a “Höhepunkt der Weinkultur,” a highlight of wine culture, in 2010 by the German Wine Institute (DWI). The view of the grounds was named “Saxon’s Most Beautiful Wine View” in 2012. Schloss Wackerbarth was awarded “Germany’s Best Sparkling Wine Producer” at the 2018 German Sparkling Wine Award. In 2022, the prestigious wine magazine VINUM chose Schloss Wackerbarth as one of the “Unique Wineries of the World.”

www.schloss-wackerbarth.de

WAGNER 22

In summer 2022 the Oper Leipzig will present all 13 of Richard Wagner’s finished music dramas to close out the season and bid of farewell to General Music Director and Intendant Prof. Ulf Schirmer. From 20 June to 14 July 2022, the WAGNER 22 Festival will TKTK the musical city’s classic calendar, as it presents Wagner’s operas in chronological order, except for the four parts of the »Ring« Cycle, which will be presented together. The program features Richard Wagner’s early works (»Die Feen«, »Das Liebesverbot« and »Rienzi«) alongside well-known works spanning from »Der fliegende Holländer« to »Parsifal«. The Gewandhausorchester will play under the musical direction of Ulf Schirmer and other conductors. WAGNER 22 is a festive, programmatic-boundary-breaking event, and is a special token of appreciation from Ulf Schirmer to audiences and the city.

www.oper-leipzig.de/wagner22