Wagner, Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence

On the shores of Lake Silvaplana lies what is perhaps the most significant stone in the history of philosophy: a pyramidal boulder on which Friedrich Nietzsche—according to his own account—conceived the idea of "eternal recurrence": the thought that everything that is and everything that will be inevitably repeats itself infinitely in an infinite universe. A thought that came to him with the conviction of a sudden inspiration—but perhaps not from nothing. The renowned music critic Christian Wildhagen (NZZ) and the celebrated opera director and artistic director of the Hamburg State Opera, Tobias Kratzer, who staged a widely acclaimed "Tannhäuser" at the Bayreuth Festival and is currently working on "Der Ring des Nibelungen" at the Bavarian State Opera, explore in their conversation whether Nietzsche's concept of "eternal recurrence" might not have its roots in a hitherto overlooked place: in the work of Richard Wagner. A dialogue between musical observations and cosmological speculation; between philosophy and musical theater practice.