Richard Wagner
🎼 Who was Richard Wagner?
Full name: Wilhelm Richard Wagner
Born: May 22, 1813 in Leipzig
Died: February 13, 1883 in Venice
Occupation: Composer, playwright, author, conductor
Style: Late Romantic / Music Drama / Opera
🎭 What makes him so special?
Wagner revolutionized opera. He wanted not only to write beautiful music, but to create a "Gesamtkunstwerk" (total work of art) – a fusion of music, poetry, stage, and plot. In doing so, he:
Coined the term "music drama"
Developed the idea of the leitmotif (recurring musical themes)
Introduced a new type of orchestra
Harmonically and structurally prepared music for the modern era
🎵 Well-known works (operas):
The Ring of the Nibelung (4 operas, approx. 15 hours!)
The Rhinegold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Tristan and Isolde – groundbreaking in harmony and emotion
Parsifal – a spiritual festival play consecrating the stage
The Flying Dutchman
Tannhäuser
Lohengrin (famous for the wedding march!)
🏰 Bayreuth and its influence
Wagner had his own festival hall built in Bayreuth, which still hosts the "Bayreuth Festival" every year – exclusively featuring his operas.
⚡ Controversies
Wagner was an anti-Semite – his writings ("Judaism in Music") are openly anti-Semitic and were later exploited by the Nazis.
To this day, many debate the separation of art and artist in Wagner's work.