Essential Wagner
Arguably the most polarising of all great composers, Richard Wagner was a trailblazing but egomaniacal genius who redefined the course of music. Inspired by Greek tragedy, Beethoven and Shakespeare – not to mention a broad spectrum of philosophers and philosophies – Wagner set out to create a new form of opera that called upon myth as its basis and wove voices and orchestra together on an unprecedented scale. Dissatisfied with conventional opera houses, he built his own theatre in Bayreuth, founding a festival there that runs to this day.
Read more…Born in Leipzig in 1813, Wagner submerged himself into the worlds of theatre and music as a child, and his early career took him to several musical outposts and finally to Paris. Success eluded him, however, until performances of 'Rienzi' (a 'grand opéra' in the manner Meyerbeer) and 'Der fliegende Holländer' in the 1840s in Dresden, where he was subsequently appointed Kapellmeister. 'Lohengrin' and 'Tannhäuser' followed, further cementing the themes that would infuse the rest of Wagner's work: redemption, hope, religion, love (in spiritual and physical forms), all explored in music of the most astonishing psychological power and intensity. They also reflected a growing political engagement that came to a head in his involvement in the 1848-49 Revolution that spread across Germany. Enforced exile in Zurich followed, and there he set out the theoretical basis for his wholesale reforms. The results included a massive four-opera cycle, 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' (made up of ‘Das Rheingold’, ‘Die Walküre’, ‘Siegfried ‘and ‘Götterdämmerung’), in which he mastered a technique, influential to this day, of enriching dramatic narrative through key musical motifs. With 'Tristan und Isolde' he laid the foundations for the breakdown of traditional harmony; with 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' he created a grand and profoundly human comedy; with 'Parsifal' he produced a final masterpiece of unprecedented musical and philosophical richness. He died in Venice in 1883, leaving behind him a musical and operatic world that would never be the same again.