Richard Wagner, a great German opera composer of the Romantic era
Richard Wagner (1813-83) was a German opera composer. His great operas included Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg), and Parsifal . He also wrote the opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).
Wagner insisted that his opera be unified units. He wrote not only the music but librettos of his operas, and he supervised all aspects of the productions of his operas so that he could achieve the desired effect on the beholder.In his operas Wagner drew on Teutonic myth and history to produce a very personal effect. Love often had a romantic association with death (as in Tristan and Isolde). There were also links between the erotic and the mystical, between the ideals of heroism and nationalism.
Wagner used leitmotifs (musical themes) to allude to particular characters or symbolic themes.
He founded an opera theater at Bayreuth in Germany where he presented many of his operas in the exact way that he desired. There are still presentations of Wagner's operas every year at Bayreuth.
Richard Wagner's Rheingold - Prelude. ATMOSPHERIC VIDEO!
Scene from the movie, Nosferatu (1979)
The Rheingold Prelude (Nosferatu 1979)
The Mountains set against the E-flat major triadic-drone of the Rheingold Prelude (beginning 2:22 minutes into the video). One of the magical moments in film. From Werner Herzog's Nosferatu (1979).
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Wagner's Credo
"I write music with an exclamation point!"
-- Richard Wagner
Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner) theme in movie Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now - The Ride Of The Valkyries
One of the best scenes from cinema. The helicopter attack in the beach against the vietcongs while The Ride Of The Valkyries is played. I never said this, but I think its appropriate to say it now. Posting this video doesn't mean that I agree with all this stuff.
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Wagner (painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir)
Richard Wagner: The Last of the Titans
Richard Wagner: The Last of the Titans
Amazon Price: $38.47 (as of 12/18/2009)
Wagner's life (1813-83) was marked by death, love, power, and abuse, all of which are present in his operas. His father died soon after Richard's birth, his stepfather and an uncle raised him, and his older sister Rosalie exerted the strongest female influence on him. There were many women in his subsequent life; his first marriage failed, though, and his second wife, Liszt's daughter Cosima, controlled him behind the scenes. Musically, he grew up with Weber, turning to Meyerbeer as a model for operatic writing. Add hatred of Jews to his makeup, stir the pot, and out came the Wagnerian themes of true love unattainable until death, power of the spiritual over the secular, and family cohesion surmounting all obstacles as well as an utterly personal musical idiom primarily committed to music supporting libretti. Kohler weaves together the events of Wagner's life, analyses of his operas' plots, and the relationships between people in the former and characters in the latter in a lengthy psychological study employing the works as windows on the life.
Richard Wagner's Music and Operas on CD
The Best Of Wagner
Amazon Price: $5.97 (as of 12/18/2009)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
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Wagner - Lohengrin / Peter Hofmann, Karan Armstrong, Bernd Weikl, Elizabeth Connell, Leif Roar, Woldemar Nelsson, Bayreuth Opera
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Bridal Chorus from opera Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
Played by trumpet, flute and strings
Wagner Bridal March - trumpet, flute & strings
Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" ("Here Comes the Bride") from Lohengrin, performed by Randy Dunn, herald trumpet, with flute and string ensemble. This is one of the two most popular traditional bridal processional pieces (The other popular traditional bridal processional is "Trumpet Voluntary" or "Prince of Denmark's March" by Jeremiah Clarke.)
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Imagination
"Imagination creates reality."
-- Richard Wagner
Program Notes on Famous Wagner Works
- Overture to "Rienzi" (Wagner)
- Wagner completed the book of "Rienzi," based upon Bulwer's novel, in 1838, and began the music in the autumn of that year. It was finished in 1839, and performed for the first time in Dresden in 1842...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK - Overture to "The Flying Dutchman" (Wagner)
- The romantic opera of "The Flying Dutchman," conceived by Wagner during a storm which overlook him on a voyage from Riga to Paris, was written in 1841, and was first produced at Dresden in 1843...
CLICK ON ABOVE LINK TO READ FULL NOTES ON THIS WORK
Birgit Nilsson sings 'Liebestod' (Love Death) from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde
Opera singer Lauritz Melchior in Wagner's Parsifal (Nicaraguan postage stamp)
Richard Wagner (article)
Wagner's compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their contrapuntal texture, rich chromaticism, harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: musical themes associated with specific characters, locales, or plot elements. Wagner pioneered advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, which greatly influenced the development of European classical music.
He transformed musical thought through his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk ("total artwork"), the synthesis of all the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, epitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876). Wagner even went so far as to build his own opera house to try to stage these works as he had imagined them.
Source: Wapedia
Siegfried funeral march, from Wagner's opera, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
Every Time I Hear Wagner...
"Every time I hear Wagner I feel like invading Poland."
-- Woody Allen
Interesting Internet Resources on Richard Wagner
- Richard Wagner
- Illustrated biography emphasizing his embodiment of the Romantic spirit.
- Parsifal
- Synopsis of Wagner's last music-drama Parsifal.
- Richard Wagner (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page)
- Original German text and English translations of many of Wagner's opera arias and other vocal works.
Wagner - The Flying Dutchman - Overture
Latest News on Richard Wagner
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRichard Burton as Wagner (TV series, 1984)
Richard Burton as Wagner (TV series, 1984)
From the 1984 TV series "Wagner"- Richard Wagner asks King Ludwig to publish a letter falsely denying the facts about his relationship to Cosima. The scene poignantly illustrates Wagner's idealized egocentrism and his lack of responsibility towards others, including his Royal patron. (Richard Burton as Wagner, Vanessa Redgrave as Cosima)
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The Wagner Family, Bayreuth, 1881
Show the World You Love Wagner!
Have something to say about this lens or about Wagner?
Do it here!
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- LLA LLA Jul 10, 2009 @ 8:28 am
- Wonderful!
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- chefkeem chefkeem Mar 13, 2008 @ 11:47 am
- RW id my favorite classical composer. I grew up near Castle Neuschwanstein, where he worked under full support by King Ludwig II.
Fine lens, 5*s!
-Chef Keem
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- fanfreluche fanfreluche Jan 8, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
- Many great lens!! But I do prefer Wagner, so 5 stars here!!
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- ZoeSPEAK ZoeSPEAK Nov 23, 2007 @ 10:38 pm
- You're doing some great composer lenses. Very interesting article about Wagner's rightful heir. Wagner is Zoe's favorite - she ALWAYS "sings"!
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