The Valkyries, led by Brunnhilde (soprano Debra Voigt, lower left), are the warrior maidens of Richard Wagner's epic Ring cycle.
Credit Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera
Eric Owens plays the greedy dwarf Alberich, displaying his golden ring, in Wagner's Das Rheingold.
Credit Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera
Mark Delevan as Wotan and Deborah Voigt as his daughter Brunnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre.
Credit APF/Getty Images
Peter Seiffert and Katarina Dalayman as the title characters in Tristan und Isolde, Wagner's cosmic tale of love.
Credit Getty Images
Klaus Florian Vogt sings the role of Walter the brash, young game-changer in Wagner's Die Meistersinger.
Credit Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera
Parsifal (Jonas Kaufmann) lifts the Holy Grail as Gurnemanz (Rene Pape) looks on, in a recent Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner's final opera, Parsifal.
How much do you know about Richard Wagner? Probably two unfavorable facts: He wrote very long, grandiose operas and was Hitler's favorite composer. As true as they are, those simple examples barely hint at the complexity of this endlessly creative and confounding artist.
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Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. His new book isHelguera's Artunes. You can see more of his work atArtworld Salon and on his own site.
