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→Biography: ring cycle, annual festival
==Biography==
==Biography==
Largely self-taught musically, Wagner was also well-read and wrote the [[libretto|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).
Largely self-taught musically, Wagner was also well-read and wrote the [[libretto|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). Since its opening in 1876, the Festspielhaus has hosted an annual festival of Wagner's operas, especially the ''Ring'' cycle, a massive undertaking of four interconnected operas traditionally performed over four evenings.
Wagner married Cosima Liszt, [[Franz Liszt]]'s daughter.
Wagner married Cosima Liszt, [[Franz Liszt]]'s daughter.