Richard Wagner
Born: 22nd May 1813, Leipzig
Died: 13th February 1883, Venice
Nationality: German
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor, best known for his operas—although his mature works are often referred to as music dramas. Unlike most composers, Wagner wrote both the libretti and the music for all of his stage works. He first achieved recognition with works in the Romantic tradition of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, but revolutionised the genre through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), which sought to unite poetic, musical, visual, and dramatic elements. In this approach, the drama unfolds as a continuously sung narrative, with the music evolving organically from the text rather than alternating between arias and recitatives. Wagner outlined these ideas in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852, most fully realising them in the first half of his four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).
Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner
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Further Reading: Wagner
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Fabio Luisi on Wagner's Ring Cycle
23rd Jun 2026
The Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra speaks about his association with the music of Wagner, and his decision to undertake performances and a recording of the composer's monumental cycle of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen.
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Wagner's Ring Cycle from Fabio Luisi in Dallas
29th May 2026
Recorded live at concert performances in 2024, this new Ring scores highly for the Italian conductor's lyrical, nuanced approach to the score and boasts a fine new Wagnerian hero in Swedish tenor Daniel Johansson.
Popular Genres: Wagner
Orchestral
Chamber
Instrumental
Opera
Vocal
Popular Works: Wagner
- Bridal Chorus 'Treulich geführt' (from Lohengrin) (47)
- Das Rheingold (118)
- Das Rheingold: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla (46)
- Der fliegende Holländer (76)
- Der fliegende Holländer: Overture (185)
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (42)
- Dich, teure Halle (from Tannhauser) (58)
- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (68)
- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Overture (197)
- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act 3 (44)
- Die Walküre (153)
- Die Walküre: Act 3 (51)
- Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries (200)
- Faust Overture, WWV59 (49)
- Götterdämmerung (123)
- Götterdämmerung: Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey (37)
- Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Funeral March (84)
- Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Rhine Journey (42)
- Götterdämmerung: Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort 'Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene' (63)
- In fernem Land (from Lohengrin) (54)
- Lohengrin (66)
- Lohengrin: Prelude to Act 1 (133)
- Lohengrin: Prelude to Act 3 (103)
- Mild und leise 'Isolde's Liebestod' (from Tristan und Isolde) (94)
- Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein 'Prize Song' (from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) (40)
- O du, mein holder Abendstern (from Tannhäuser) (43)
- Parsifal (81)
- Parsifal: Good Friday Music (59)
- Parsifal: Prelude to Act 1 (80)
- Rienzi Overture (118)
- Siegfried (110)
- Siegfried Idyll (214)
- Siegfried: Waldweben (57)
- Tannhäuser (48)
- Tannhäuser: Overture (184)
- Träume (No. 5 from Wesendonck-Lieder) (42)
- Tristan und Isolde (99)
- Tristan und Isolde: Prelude & Liebestod (163)
- Tristan und Isolde: Prelude to Act 1 (68)
- Wesendonck-Lieder (5) (154)
Recent Best Sellers: Wagner
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New. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Mark Delavan (Wotan/Wanderer), Lise Lindstrom (Brünnhilde), Daniel Johansson (Siegfried), Sara Jakubiak (Sieglinde), Christopher Ventris (Siegmund), Stephen Milling (Hunding/Hagen), Tómas Tómasson (Alberich), Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th May 2026
13 CDs: $142.50Download from $31.75 -
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Special offer. Wagner Transcriptions Volume 1: Der Ring
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
SACD: Original price $20.25 Reduced $16.80Download from $10.00 -
New. The Beecham Collection - Berlioz & Wagner: Orchestral Excerpts
Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
CD: $19.00Download from $10.00 -
Lise Davidsen: Live at the Met
Lise Davidsen (soprano), James Baillieu (piano)
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2026, Editor's Choice
CD: $16.50Download from $10.00 -
New Releases: Wagner
View all new releases-
New. Wagner: Die Walküre
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
5 Vinyl Records: Original price $211.25 Reduced $196.46 -
New. Opera Suites for Nonet - Act III
ensemble minui
CD: $19.75Download from $10.00 -
New. Sommernachtskonzert 2026: Schönbrunn | Summer Night Concert 2026
Sir Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone), Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorenzo Viotti
DVD Video: $17.50 -
New. Sommernachtskonzert 2026: Schönbrunn | Summer Night Concert 2026
Sir Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone), Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorenzo Viotti
Blu-ray: $22.75
Future Releases: Wagner
View all future releases-
Coming soon. Song & Dance
Jacques Forestier (violin), Boris Kusnezow (piano)
CD: Original price $17.75 Reduced $16.50Download from $10.00 -
Coming soon. Shostakovich: Symphonies 5 & 9
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Arvīds Jansons
CD: $19.00Download from $9.25 -
Coming soon. The Art of Piano Transcription
Kotaro Fukuma (piano)
CD: $14.50Download from $10.00 -
Coming soon. Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Georg Zeppenfeld (Sachs), Michael Spyres (Walther), Christina Nilsson (Eva), Michael Nagy (Beckmesser), Jongmin Park (Pogner), Matthias Stier (David), Christa Mayer (Magdalene), Bayreuther Festspiele, Daniele Gatti, Matthias Davids
2 DVD Videos: Original price $42.50 Reduced $40.80
