Great Composers in Words & Music: Richard Wagner

Featuring

Nicholas Boulton
John McGlinn
Attila Falvay
Tamás Szabó
Gábor Fias
György Éder

Jun Märkl
Leif Segerstam
Pinchas Steinberg
Alfred Muff
Michael Halász
Uwe Mund
Jaap van Zweden
Deborah Humble
Gerard Schwarz
Bernard Haitink
Gábor Ötvös
Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Kodály Quartet
MDR Sinfonieorchester
Royal Swedish Opera Chorus
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Seattle Symphony
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Teatro la Fenice Orchestra
Davinia Caddy

Did you know?

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Composer Biography

Richard Wagner's second completed opera, Das Liebesverbot ('The Ban on Love'), was a comic opera based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.

Cultural Impact

Richard Wagner's work, influenced by Beethoven, became a cornerstone of European musical culture.

Composer Biography

Richard Wagner did not conduct or attend the Weimar premiere of his opera Lohengrin in 1850.

Performer Biography

Nicholas Boulton, the narrator, graduated from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has appeared in film, TV, and theatre, including Shakespeare in Love and Game of Thrones.

Composer Biography

Richard Wagner declared, on his 59th birthday, that he needed a theatre only he could build, referring to the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Richard Wagner's ambition led him to design and build the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, a theatre solely for the performances of his immersive 'music dramas'.

Performer Biography

Davinia Caddy, who wrote this audio biography, holds a PhD in music from the University of Cambridge and has taught at Oxford, Oxford Brookes, and Auckland.