Wagner’s Great-Granddaughter Gives Rienzi Wigs, Glitter, Hoover

By Catherine Hickley [Bloomberg, 13 October 2008]

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — Richard Wagner’s early opera “Rienzi” is an historical oddity, rarely staged, and for good reason. Putting the eponymous character in glittering lame and an Ozzy Osbourne-style wig and strapping an industrial vacuum cleaner to his back is no way to make it more accessible.