MUSIC WAGNER WOULDN’T LIKE
Wagner: Träume
WAGNER’S NIGHTMARE IS…
A VIOLA-PIANO DUO
The name of our duo comes from our album-cum-Gesamtmediaprojekt, “Wagner’s Nightmare”, a send-up to the most absurd, controversial, and influential composer of all time; Richard Wagner. Through a series of essays, informational videos, and music videos dedicated to the many things Wagner did not like, we are giving Wagner - the man, the music, and his astonishing legacy - the undressing he deserves. The culmination of all of this is the Wagner’s Nightmare Album, an album of music for viola-and-piano which Wagner would not like.
As we move on from the project/album of “Wagner’s Nightmare,” we are taking its name and ethos with us. There is always more to be said about Wagner, but there is not always more for us to say, nor Wagnerian repertoire for us to play. But the spirit of “Wagner’s Nightmare” - intellectual curiosity, humor, irreverence, and multi-media output (particularly writing) - is essential to who we are as a duo and will be the common thread through our future projects.
Daniel Orsen, violist,
has always been different. At his first birthday party, while the other boys and girls played with Daniel’s toys, he sat in a corner and read a book. In 3rd grade, when the other girls and boys decided to take up the violin or cello, Daniel chose the viola. Daniel’s highest musical aspiration is to play solo Hindemith for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Daniel’s website
Pierre-Nicolas Colombat, piano,
enjoys BBQ Fritos too much avoid the scorn of his French compatriots and drinks too much Saint-Émilion to earn the full trust of his IPA-drinking American brethren. He has the professional cunning to avoid solo piano playing as a career path but is naïve enough to still be a musician. By way of his current home in Basel, Switzerland, he is slowly infiltrating the Germanic world as a part his life-long effort to re-brand Florestan and Eusebius as Pierre and Nicolas.
Pierre-Nicolas’ website
Nightmar-e-mail
“Shit”
— Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet, on Wagner. He would have loved Wagner’s Nightmare.