author
Richard Wagner
1813–1883
A revolutionary force in 19th-century music, he reshaped opera into sweeping music dramas where poetry, staging, and orchestral color worked together. Best known for works like the four-opera Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal, he remains one of the most influential and debated figures in classical music.
15 Audiobooks
My Life — Volume 1
by Richard Wagner
The Valkyries
by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson, Richard Wagner
La Tétralogie de l'Anneau du Nibelung
by Richard Wagner
Tristan and Isolda: Opera in Three Acts
by Richard Wagner
Der Fliegende Hollaender The Flying Dutchman
by Richard Wagner
Parsifal A Mystical Drama by Richard Wagner Retold in the Spirit of the Bayreuth Interpretation
by Oliver Huckel, Richard Wagner
The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie The Ring of the Niblung, part 1
by Richard Wagner
My Life — Volume 2
by Richard Wagner
Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods The Ring of the Niblung, part 2
by Richard Wagner
On Conducting (Üeber Das Dirigiren) : A Treatise on Style in the Execution of Classical Music
by Richard Wagner
Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 2
by Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt
Stories from Wagner
by J. Walker (Joseph Walker) McSpadden, Richard Wagner
Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 1
by Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt
Le Vaisseau fantôme (Der Fliegende Holländer)
by Richard Wagner
About the author
Born in Leipzig on May 22, 1813, Richard Wagner became a German composer, conductor, theater director, and essayist whose ambitions went far beyond writing melodies for the stage. He wrote both the music and libretti for his major operas, aiming to unite drama, poetry, and music into a single powerful experience.
His mature works—including The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the four-part Ring cycle, and Parsifal—changed the course of opera. Wagner also played a central role in creating the Bayreuth Festival and the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, a theater designed around his artistic ideas.
Wagner died in Venice on February 13, 1883. His influence on later composers and on the history of opera was enormous, even as his life and writings continue to spark debate, making him a figure who is both essential and deeply controversial.