Our second week of free Nightly Met Opera Streams dedicated entirely to the works of Richard Wagner features seven of the composer’s awe-inspiring masterpieces, including classic telecasts of Otto Schenk’s historic staging of the Ring cycle. Access the exhilarating lineup on metopera.org and all Met Opera on Demand apps. And prepare for each stream with a curated selection of supplementary content at metopera.org/WagnerWeek. | The Metropolitan Opera

68K views · 1.6K reactions | To tell the story of his vast Ring cycle, Wagner created a rich score that weaves together numerous leitmotifs—small musical segments that represent characters, objects, or emotions. Watch as members of the MET Orchestra Musicians explore some of these fascinating musical building blocks. The complete Ring cycle is on stage through May 11: bit.ly/2TTcEWA | The Metropolitan Opera | Facebook

On this day in 1813, Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig. The German composer would go on to not only create some of opera’s most monumental masterpieces but also revolutionize the worlds of music, theater, and art. From the Met’s earliest days, his works—including the epic Die Walküre—have never been absent from our stage. | The Metropolitan Opera