Richard Wagner(1813-1883)
- Music Department
- Writer
- Composer
Richard Wagner was a German composer best known for his operas,
primarily the monumental four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen". He
was born Wilhelm Richard Wagner on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany.
He was the ninth child in the family of Carl Wagner, a police clerk.
Richard was only six months old when his father died, and he was
brought up by his mother Johanna and stepfather Ludwig Geyer, an actor
and playwright. Young Wagner studied piano from the age of 7 and soon
developed ability to play by ear and improvise. At age 15 he wrote
piano transcriptions of
Ludwig van Beethoven's "9th
Symphony" and orchestral overtures. He studied at the University of
Leipzig, and also took composition and conducting lessons with the
cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig.
Wagner's early operas did not meet with success, leaving him in serious
financial difficulties. From 1836-1839 he was a music director in Riga
Opera, where his wife, Minna Planer, was a singer, and her extramarital
escapades were the talk of the town. The Wagners amassed such
significant debts that they had to escape from creditors and fled Riga.
They spent 1840 and 1841 in London and Paris, where Richard worked as
an arranger for other composers.
Giacomo Meyerbeer promoted Wagner's
third opera, "Rienzi", to performance by the Dresden Court Theatre,
where the opera was staged to considerable acclaim. In 1842 the Wagners
moved to Dresden and lived there for six years. Eventually Richard was
appointed the Royal Saxon Court Conductor. At that time he completed
and staged "Der fliegende Hollander" (aka "The Flying Dutchman") and
"Tannhauser".
Wagner was exposed to many conflicting political influences, ranging
from Marxism and liberalism on the left to German nationalism on the
right to the anarchism of Mikhail Bakunin. After the revolution of
1848-49, Wagner fled from Germany to Paris, then to Zurich, and found
himself penniless, unemployed and depressed (he had also suffered from
a severe skin infection for many years). At that time Wagner was unable
to compose or perform music, and he expressed himself in writing
essays: "The Art-Work of the Future", describing "Gesamtkunstwerk," or
"total artwork" uniting opera, ballet, visual arts and stagecraft.
Wagner's four "Ring" operas gradually evolved, and he completed the
libretto by 1852. Another year of suffering went by, until he began
composing "Das Rheingold" (aka "The Rhine Gold") in November 1853,
following it with "Die Walkure" (aka "The Valkyrie") in 1854. In 1856
he began work on "Siegfried", but put the unfinished opera aside and
focused on his new idea: "Tristan und Isolde" (aka "Tristan and
Isolde"), which was composed between 1857 and 1859. In 1861 Germany
ended the political ban on Wagner, and in 1862 he ended his troubled
marriage to Minna.
"Tristan and Isolde" was initially accepted for production in Vienna.
The opera had over 70 rehearsals between 1861 and 1864, but remained
unperformed and gained a reputation for being unplayable. The young
Bavarian King Ludwig II, an admirer of Wagner's operas since his
childhood, had settled the composer's debts and financed his opera
productions. Finally "Tristan and Isolde" was produced in Munich, and
premiered under the baton of Hans von Bulow in June 1865. It was the
first Wagner premiere in 15 years.
Cosima von Bulow, the wife of the conductor, Hans von Bulow, and the eldest daughter of pianist/composer Franz Liszt, had an
indiscreet affair with Wagner, and their illegitimate daughter, Isolde,
was born in 1865. The affair scandalized Munich, and Wagner fell into
disfavor among members of the court who were jealous of his friendship
with the king. Ludwig was pressured to ask Wagner to leave Munich.
However, from 1866 to 1872 the king placed Wagner and his family at
Tribshen villa on Lake Luzern, Switzerland. There Richard married
Cosime in August 1870. Inspired composer created one of his most
beloved works, the "Siegfried Idyll" for 15 players, written as a gift
to Cosima, and premiered on Christmas day, 1870.
In 1872 Wagner moved to Bayreuth with a plan that his "Ring" cycle to
be performed in a new, specially designed opera house. King Ludwig
supported the composer with another large grant in 1874, and the
Wagners bought Villa Wahnfried and made permanent home in Bayreuth. In
August 1876 the new opera "Festspielhaus" opened with the premiere of
"The Ring" and has been the site of the Bayreuth Festival ever since.
Richard Wagner died of a heart attack on February 13, 1883, while
wintering in Venice. He was laid to rest in the garden of his Villa
Wahnfried in Bayreuth. The Wagner Museum in Lucerne, Switzerland, is
now a museum of period musical instruments and art collection of the
Wagner family. One room is dedicated to the history of the Wagner
Festivals in Lucerne. The Wagner Museum allows visitors to take photos
of the documents about the Wagner family's help to the Jewish musicians
and intellectuals who fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s.
Documents reveal that the Wagner family were assisting Jewish musicians
and intellectuals who fled the Nazi regime in finding employment in
Switzerland and other lands, such as the USA and Palestine. Documents,
photographs and letters illustrate the bold activity of
Arturo Toscanini with
Vladimir Horowitz and the Wagner
family members in getting funds from the government of
Benito Mussolini and using those funds
to accommodate Jewish musicians and intellectuals under the umbrella of
the annual Wagner Festival in Lucerne. The Wagner Festival Symphony
Orchestra employed many Jewish musicians who later joined the Israel
Philarmonic Orchestra (then known as the "Palestine Orchestra").
primarily the monumental four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen". He
was born Wilhelm Richard Wagner on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Germany.
He was the ninth child in the family of Carl Wagner, a police clerk.
Richard was only six months old when his father died, and he was
brought up by his mother Johanna and stepfather Ludwig Geyer, an actor
and playwright. Young Wagner studied piano from the age of 7 and soon
developed ability to play by ear and improvise. At age 15 he wrote
piano transcriptions of
Ludwig van Beethoven's "9th
Symphony" and orchestral overtures. He studied at the University of
Leipzig, and also took composition and conducting lessons with the
cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig.
Wagner's early operas did not meet with success, leaving him in serious
financial difficulties. From 1836-1839 he was a music director in Riga
Opera, where his wife, Minna Planer, was a singer, and her extramarital
escapades were the talk of the town. The Wagners amassed such
significant debts that they had to escape from creditors and fled Riga.
They spent 1840 and 1841 in London and Paris, where Richard worked as
an arranger for other composers.
Giacomo Meyerbeer promoted Wagner's
third opera, "Rienzi", to performance by the Dresden Court Theatre,
where the opera was staged to considerable acclaim. In 1842 the Wagners
moved to Dresden and lived there for six years. Eventually Richard was
appointed the Royal Saxon Court Conductor. At that time he completed
and staged "Der fliegende Hollander" (aka "The Flying Dutchman") and
"Tannhauser".
Wagner was exposed to many conflicting political influences, ranging
from Marxism and liberalism on the left to German nationalism on the
right to the anarchism of Mikhail Bakunin. After the revolution of
1848-49, Wagner fled from Germany to Paris, then to Zurich, and found
himself penniless, unemployed and depressed (he had also suffered from
a severe skin infection for many years). At that time Wagner was unable
to compose or perform music, and he expressed himself in writing
essays: "The Art-Work of the Future", describing "Gesamtkunstwerk," or
"total artwork" uniting opera, ballet, visual arts and stagecraft.
Wagner's four "Ring" operas gradually evolved, and he completed the
libretto by 1852. Another year of suffering went by, until he began
composing "Das Rheingold" (aka "The Rhine Gold") in November 1853,
following it with "Die Walkure" (aka "The Valkyrie") in 1854. In 1856
he began work on "Siegfried", but put the unfinished opera aside and
focused on his new idea: "Tristan und Isolde" (aka "Tristan and
Isolde"), which was composed between 1857 and 1859. In 1861 Germany
ended the political ban on Wagner, and in 1862 he ended his troubled
marriage to Minna.
"Tristan and Isolde" was initially accepted for production in Vienna.
The opera had over 70 rehearsals between 1861 and 1864, but remained
unperformed and gained a reputation for being unplayable. The young
Bavarian King Ludwig II, an admirer of Wagner's operas since his
childhood, had settled the composer's debts and financed his opera
productions. Finally "Tristan and Isolde" was produced in Munich, and
premiered under the baton of Hans von Bulow in June 1865. It was the
first Wagner premiere in 15 years.
Cosima von Bulow, the wife of the conductor, Hans von Bulow, and the eldest daughter of pianist/composer Franz Liszt, had an
indiscreet affair with Wagner, and their illegitimate daughter, Isolde,
was born in 1865. The affair scandalized Munich, and Wagner fell into
disfavor among members of the court who were jealous of his friendship
with the king. Ludwig was pressured to ask Wagner to leave Munich.
However, from 1866 to 1872 the king placed Wagner and his family at
Tribshen villa on Lake Luzern, Switzerland. There Richard married
Cosime in August 1870. Inspired composer created one of his most
beloved works, the "Siegfried Idyll" for 15 players, written as a gift
to Cosima, and premiered on Christmas day, 1870.
In 1872 Wagner moved to Bayreuth with a plan that his "Ring" cycle to
be performed in a new, specially designed opera house. King Ludwig
supported the composer with another large grant in 1874, and the
Wagners bought Villa Wahnfried and made permanent home in Bayreuth. In
August 1876 the new opera "Festspielhaus" opened with the premiere of
"The Ring" and has been the site of the Bayreuth Festival ever since.
Richard Wagner died of a heart attack on February 13, 1883, while
wintering in Venice. He was laid to rest in the garden of his Villa
Wahnfried in Bayreuth. The Wagner Museum in Lucerne, Switzerland, is
now a museum of period musical instruments and art collection of the
Wagner family. One room is dedicated to the history of the Wagner
Festivals in Lucerne. The Wagner Museum allows visitors to take photos
of the documents about the Wagner family's help to the Jewish musicians
and intellectuals who fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s.
Documents reveal that the Wagner family were assisting Jewish musicians
and intellectuals who fled the Nazi regime in finding employment in
Switzerland and other lands, such as the USA and Palestine. Documents,
photographs and letters illustrate the bold activity of
Arturo Toscanini with
Vladimir Horowitz and the Wagner
family members in getting funds from the government of
Benito Mussolini and using those funds
to accommodate Jewish musicians and intellectuals under the umbrella of
the annual Wagner Festival in Lucerne. The Wagner Festival Symphony
Orchestra employed many Jewish musicians who later joined the Israel
Philarmonic Orchestra (then known as the "Palestine Orchestra").