Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) was a German opera composer whose strong popularity continued beyond his death. In Nazi Germany his works were very popular, oftentimes playing up his anti-semitic views. Many of his operas are still performed today.

Biography

Largely self-taught musically, Wagner was also well-read and wrote the libretti for most of his operas. Wagner was involved in the failed 1848 Dresden Revolution, having written political tracts in its support, and was forced to flee his native Germany for Switzerland. After spending a short while in Vienna where his extravagant financial habits forced him to flee yet again, he found an ardent patron in King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig, who was obsessed with Wagner's music and likely with Wagner himself, paid off the composer's debts and eventually built an opera house at Bayreuth specially designed for performances of Wagner's operas. Unique among the world's opera houses, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus has several special acoustic features designed by Wagner himself, including a hooded orchestra pit (to allow the large orchestra required in his operas to be able to play at full volume without overwhelming the singers).

Wagner married Cosima Liszt, Franz Liszt's daughter.

Famous Works

• Rienzi (1840)
• Der fliegende Holländer (1841)
• Tannhäuser (1844)
• Lohengrin (1848)
• Der Ring des Nibelungen, cycle of four operas:

• Das Rheingold (1869)
• Die Walküre (1870)
• Siegfried (1871)
• Götterdämmerung (1874)

• Tristan und Isolde (1859)
• Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868)
• Parisfal (1882) (Last Opera)

See Also

• Classical music
• K. Freigedank

External links

• Wagner, Richard

Sources

• The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989