Richard Wagner

Born: 1813 | Died: 1883

Composer

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in 1813 in Leipzig as one of nine children. At an early age it was Beethoven who most inspired the young Wagner and became his role model.

Now admired as one of the greatest composers of all time, Wagner struggled through the earlier part of his career in Germany and Paris. In 1843, when his piece “The Flying Dutchman” was produced in Dresden, Wagner finally earned the recognition he aspired to. He became the Kapellmeister at the Dresden State Opera for the next six years until 1848, when he was thrown out of Germany for actively participating in the 1848 Revolution. He fled to Switzerland, eventually settling in Lucerne, where he composed and received visitors, such as Nietzsche and King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

Plagued by debt throughout most of his life due to his lavish lifestyle, Wagner received help from his 18 year old patron, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who financed many of his grand operas. The king later even built the Bayreuth Festspielhaus (opera house) specifically to accommodate Wagner’s operas. The famous Wagner Festival in August is still hosted there each year.

Wagner today was and is recognized in America and around the world as one of the most powerful composers of the second half of the nineteenth century, who created operatic works that were avant-garde and far-reaching. His idea of musical creation as “Gesamtkunstwerk“ (total artwork) was revolutionary. Among his works are world famous operas including: “Tristan and Isolde,” “Lohengrin,” “The Flying Dutchman” and “The Ring of the Nibelungen.” Wagner died in 1883 in Venice.

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