Today In ...
Classical music: Richard Wagner premiered his opera Die Feen on this day in 1888. No, not Der Freischutz — Die Feen. You know, The Fairies? You seriously haven’t heard it? Nah I’m kidding, almost nobody has: It was Wagner’s first effort, written when he was 20, and it didn’t get produced until 55 years later, after he had made his name with the Ring cycle and the other landmarks. It gets done very rarely; there are recordings, though, and the overture is kinda charming:
You can read more about Die Feen and its very, very silly plot in the handy A-Z Wagner glossary over at The Guardian.
Cultural learnings: From Bitter Southerner, a beautifully observed meditation on a Chesapeake Bay island where “you cannot be called a Tangierman until you’re a fourth-generation resident” — and where rising seas driven by climate change threaten to consume centuries of history and community.
Twitter foolishness: Man, the shocking twist at the end of this puppy-learns-to-swim video…
Theater history: London’s Globe burned on June 30, 1613, when theatrical cannons lit its thatched roof on fire during a performance of "Henry VIII." Read a contemporary letter describing the fire: http://ow.ly/tdRh30p1kbm. #ShxDoc
[Source: Folger Shakespeare Library]
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