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Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Born: 22nd May 1813, Leipzig

Died: 13th February 1883, Venice

Nationality: German

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. 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).

Further Reading: Wagner

Interview, Michael Spyres on In The Shadows

Ahead of next week's Gramophone Awards and International Opera Awards, the baritenor discusses his shortlisted album (released on Erato in March) exploring early Wagner and the composers who influenced his writing.

Recording of the Week, In The Shadows with Michael Spyres

The American singer teams up with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset to explore some of the operas which influenced Wagner - including works by Méhul, Beethoven, Meyerbeer and Spontini.

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