“Forbidden Love” is an operatic gem that even Wagner’s devoted followers know little about. Young Wagner, at 23, wrote it in the style of rousing, exuberant 19th century Italian comic opera, before he became “𝖂𝖆𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖗”! Composed in 1836 and based on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, “Forbidden Love” explores the traditional clash between puritanical, restrained sexuality and all too human self-abandoned eroticism. Come and thrill to great arias and ensembles, rousing music, and hints of the Wagner to come.