Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig, Germany in a family who had a passion for theatre and music. He was a famous German composer.
Biography and Career :
The composer Carl Weber was a close friend of his family and so the young Richard Wagner had a keen on music. He tried to reproduce a work of Weber but because he didn't have studies in music he lost his patience.
Richard Wagner was charmed by "Fidelio", Beethoven's work and decided to compose.
In 1831 Richard Wagner went to the University in Leipzig as a student of music, but stayed there only one year. He surpassed his abhorrence about the theory of music and learned how to write a symphony, three overtures and a few works for the piano, all of them influenced by Beethoven. Richard Wagner became a real
musician.
Albert, Richard Wagner's brother found him the first job at the Theatre in Wurzburg.
Richard Wagner wrote his first opera in 1833, "Die Feen" and, because it hadn't been played, Richard Wagner lost his interest in German music. On the other hand he started to love the sentimental Italian style.
When his second work was written, Richard Wagner fell in love and got married to Minna Planer, the first singer at the Theatre in Magdeburg. His work was played but was a fiasco.
In 1839 Richard Wagner moved to
Paris and in 1842 he convinced the Theatre of the Royal Court in Dresda to play "Rienzi".
When he came back in Germany "Rienzi" was a great luck and he was offered a prestigious job as conductor of the Royal Court Orchestra.
One year after the success with "Rienzi" he showed another work "Die Fliegende Hollander", with a totally different style.
Between 1845-1865 he composed operas like: "Tannbauser", "Lobengrin", "Das Rbeingold", "Die Walkure", "Siegfried", "Gotterdammerung", "Tristan and Isolda" and "Der Ring".
In 1866 Minna passed away and Richard Wagner went to
Switzerland and he had many affairs, one of them was the one with Liszt's daughter, Cosmina.
After he managed to play on stage "Der Ring" and after all the hard work with that project Richard Wagner passed away on February 13, 1883 of a heart attack.
Trivia :
- He started the piano lessons at the age of 12.
- His second work "Liebesverbot" was written in 1836.
- His last work played on stage was "Parsifal".
Quotes :
- "Joy is not in things; it is in us."
- "Imagination creates reality."
- "I write music with an exclamation point!"
Important Works :
- 1832 "Die Hochzeit" ("The Wedding")
- 1833 "Die Feen" ("The Fairies")
- 1836 "Das Liebesverbot" ("The Ban on Love")
- 1837 "Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen" ("Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes")
- 1843 "Der fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman")
- 1845 "Tannhäuser"
- 1848 "Lohengrin"
- 1859 "Tristan und Isolde" ("Tristan and Isolde")
- 1867 "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" ("The Mastersingers of Nuremberg")
- "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ("The Ring of the Nibelung"), consisting of:
- 1854 "Das Rheingold" ("The Rhinegold")
- 1856 "Die Walküre" ("The Valkyrie")
- 1871 "Siegfried"
- 1874 "Götterdämmerung" ("Twilight of the Gods")
- 1882 "Parsifal".
Other Great Composers :
-
Mozart
-
Richard Strauss
-
Giacomo Puccini
-
Chopin
-
Johann Sebastian Bach
-
Gustav Mahler
-
Niccolo Paganini
-
Johannes Brahms
-
Robert Schumann
Richard Wagner Image : richard-wagner-museum.ch
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