Richard Wagner's Major Accomplishments

Richard Wagner

Born on May 22nd, 1813 in Leipzig, Germany, Richard Wagner became one of the world’s most significant conductors and composers. As a child, Wagner was told he had no talent in a musical aspect, however he went on to write a drama at the age of eleven and a musical composition at the age of sixteen. His music career carried on to his University studies at Leipzig University where he wrote and performed his first symphony in 1833. Wagner showed much confidence and drive from a young age and that proved to be a personality trait he would keep for his lifetime. In his obituary The New York Times wrote “In the face of mortifying failures and discouragements, he apparently never lost confidence in himself”. As Richard Wagner became a well-known and practiced composer, his reputation grew into an infamous one. Wagner was known for his anti-sematic writings and intricate operas and

Unfortunately Rienzi was not favored by many as it was a political opera, and before he could even finish the opera, Wagner and his wife escaped Russia and moved to Paris, France. France would not take Rienzi either, so Wagner sent it to Dresden, Germany where his fellow German’s accepted it. Rienzi was produced in Germany due to its extreme leftist connotations, and it was received with great interest. Between the years of Rienzi and 1848, Wagner worked on operas named The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser, and Lohengrin. Though in 1848, a revolution broke out in Saxony close to Wagner’s home in Dresden, and Wagner, who had always been outspoken in the subject of politics, moved to Zurich. For the next eleven years, Wagner was banned from Germany for political reasoning, and this began his anti-sematic period. Wagner wrote Jewishness in Music, Opera and Drama, and Ring Cycle, along with other operas criticizing any Jewish affiliate in the