Richard Wagner

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Leipzig, Germany (1813 – 1883)

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22nd May 1813 in Leipzig, Germany – 13th February 1883 in Venice, Italy) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his s (or “music dramas” as he later came to call them). His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: themes associated with specific characters, locales, or plot elements. Wagner’s chromatic musical language prefigured later developments in European classical music (Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss et al), including extreme chromaticism and atonality (Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Arnold Schönberg et al). He transformed musical thought through his idea of Gesamtkunstwerk (“total art-work”), epitomized by his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876). His concept of leitmotif and integrated musical expression was also a strong influence on many 20th century film scores.

Wagner was and remains a controversial figure, both for his musical and dramatic innovations, and for his anti-semitic and political opinions. Wagner was one of Adolf Hitler’s favorite composers; the composer’s influence on him has been a subject of heated debate ever since the end of World War II.
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  • MonarchKingdom

    Happy 200th!

    1 hour ago Reply

  • hjbardenhagen

    I added a link to an interview with Frank Castorf from Feb 2012 to the Bayreuther Festspiele event where he explained his plans for this season. By the way, I think all tickets have been sold already, so you could only watch the live broadcast on TV or in a cinema perhaps.

    1 May 8:01am Reply

  • Abrams1315

    Richard Wagner's RING for the piano! By composer pianist DANIEL ABRAMS. Written in the style of the composer as if he had written the Opera for the piano . Please read the glowing comments on YouTube -- and, please, share. Thanks, Sonia Sudak links to "A Wagner Celebration" : Daniel-Abrams.com, Youtube, Vimeo, Amazon, iTunes, Hal Leonard Publishing and Bandcamp.com

    1 May 3:56am Reply

  • MonarchKingdom

    Wagner himself said that he was not interested in having his works performed. He was only interested in having them performed exactly as he imagined them to be. He also said those who weren't able or willing to do so should turn it down instead of distorting them.

    27 Apr 8:02pm Reply

  • MonarchKingdom

    What is this Frank Castorf doing? I don't quite understand his concept of "postdramatic theatre", and correct me if I'm wrong, but to me it stinks of Regietheater. According to Wikipedia: "The theatre which Lehmann calls postdramatic is not primarily focused on the drama in itself, but evolves a performative aesthetic in which the text of the drama is put in a special relation to the material situation of the performance and the stage. Thus postdramatic theatre is more striving to produce an effect amongst the spectators than to remain true to the text." So I would be careful before buying tickets to Bayreuth...

    27 Apr 8:00pm Reply

  • hjbardenhagen

    You could check the top albums of the tag for albums with only orchestral music from the Ring and other Wagner operas. A very good album is the one with Edo de Waart conducting, and I also like the one with George Szell. But there are so many good performances with orchestral Wagner music it's hard to pick out one, e.g. if you don't mind historical recordings have a listen to Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini.

    12 Apr 5:01am Reply

  • fgt_shit

    Could someone recommend me something similar to The Ring Without Words?

    12 Apr 2:25am Reply

  • hjbardenhagen

    The Bayreuther Festspiele will celebrate the bicentenary of Richard Wagner's birth with a new production of the Ring led by Russian conductor Kirill Petrenko and staged by German director Frank Castorf. See the programme page for the complete schedule of the festival also including the operas "Der fliegende Holländer", "Tannhäuser", and "Lohengrin" led by Christian Thielemann and Andris Nelsons. There are more anniversary events planned in Bayreuth and throughout the musical world, see e.g. this DW page.

    31 Mar 2:46am Reply

  • Zittyyy

    great composer !

    29 Mar 8:37am Reply

  • fearimpaired

    ridiculous hipster metalheads

    25 Mar 5:24pm Reply

  • andoreh

    Walkürenritt is better than the english title

    22 Mar 11:02pm Reply

  • Lost_Souls_UK

    'How could anyone fail to be shattered immediately, having once put their ear to the heart of the universal Will.'

    7 Mar 7:30pm Reply

  • TheDarthsala

    A group in honour of Kirsten Flagstad, one of the greatest Wagner Sopranos:http://www.lastfm.de/group/Kirsten+Flagstad

    16 Feb 2:45pm Reply

  • chrisdeg

    overrated, expected more

    12 Feb 5:55pm Reply

  • hjbardenhagen

    For those users who cannot listen to Last.fm's radio stations since Jan 15th, 2013 anymore, I have converted the tag radios Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde and Wesendonck-Lieder to Spotify playlists. If you are able to listen to them (i.e. Spotify is available in your country and you have installed their software client), just click on the links. I also added some great albums there which are not streamable on Last.fm like Daniel Barenboim performing the complete Ring in Bayreuth.

    2 Feb 7:46pm Reply

  • Bloodsekeer

    hate nazi @ love wagner

    29 Jan 7:43pm Reply

  • wolfram-r

    I am addicted to Vorspiel of Parsifal.

    28 Jan 11:18am Reply

  • KasparovDeepBlu

    >Ride of the Valkyries most scrobbled track

    27 Jan 8:23pm Reply

  • Nakkinak

    It's hard for me to respect such a person. Save the music - but not the person.

    27 Jan 12:56pm Reply

  • Pruitt-Igoe

    "I don't like him because someone told me he didn't like jews"

    24 Jan 3:23pm Reply
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