Richard Wagner
Known For: Sound
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: May 22, 1813
Day of Death: February 13, 1883 (70 years old)
Place of Birth: Leipzig, Germany
Wilhelm Richard Wagner (/ˈvɑːɡnər/; German: [ˈʁiçaʁt ˈvaːɡnɐ] (About this sound listen); 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music. Famously, he is known for Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. The four parts that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) Siegfried Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, run by his descendants. His thoughts on the relative contributions of music and drama in opera were to change again, and he reintroduced some traditional forms into his last few stage works, including Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg).
2025
2024
2023
Music
Richard Wagner: "Parsifal" Bayreuther Festspiele 2023
Music
Royal Opera House 2023/24: Das Rheingold
Lyricist
Royal Opera House 2023/24: Das Rheingold
Music
Echo Sonata
Music
Tristan und Isolde
Writer
Tristan und Isolde
Music
Maledictis
Writer
Royal Opera House 2023/24: Das Rheingold
Writer
Richard Wagner: Götterdämmerung - Aus der Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
Writer
Richard Wagner: Die Walküre - Aus der Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
Writer
Wagner: Das Rheingold
Compositor
Wagner's Ring Without Words Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
Music
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde
Writer
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde
Writer
The Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde
Idea
Gott liebt ein menschliches Weib
Original Music Composer
The Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde
Music
Roger D'Astous
Original Music Composer
Richard Wagner - Lohengrin
Original Music Composer
Das Liebesverbot
Writer
Das Liebesverbot
Writer
The Ring of the Nibelung: The Rhinegold
Music
Eifman Ballet: The Brothers Karamazov
Music
The Ring of the Nibelung: The Valkyrie
Writer
The Ring of the Nibelung: The Valkyrie
Writer
The Ring of the Nibelung: Siegfried
Writer
The Ring of the Nibelung: Twilight of the Gods
Music
The Ring of the Nibelung: Siegfried
Music
The Ring of the Nibelung: Twilight of the Gods
2015
2014
Writer
The Metropolitan Opera: The Master-Singers of Nuremberg
Compositor
The Metropolitan Opera: The Master-Singers of Nuremberg
Original Music Composer
Tannhäuser
Writer
Tannhauser
Original Music Composer
Byeway
Writer
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Original Music Composer
Wagner: Siegfried
Original Music Composer
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Writer
Wagner: Siegfried
Writer
Tannhäuser
2013
Actor Self (archive footage)
Hitler und der Wagner Clan
Music
Hitler und der Wagner Clan
Writer
The Ring of the Nibelung: The tetralogy in one single evening with actors and marionettes
Original Music Composer
Wagner: Das Rheingold
Original Music Composer
Wagner: Die Walküre
Writer
Parsifal
Writer
Parsifal live at the Salzburg Easter Festival
Original Music Composer
Parsifal
Opera
The Metropolitan Opera: Das Rheingold
