Rienzi

Richard Wagner

Operas Die Feen (1833) Das Liebesverbot (1836) Rienzi (1840) Der fliegende Holländer (1843) Tannhäuser (1845) Lohengrin (1848) Tristan und Isolde (1859) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1867) Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold (1869) Die Walküre (1870) Siegfried (1871) Götterdämmerung (1874) Parsifal (1882)

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Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen (WWV 49) (Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi. Written between July 1838 and November 1840, it was first performed at the Hofoper, Dresden on October 20, 1842.

Background

Rienzi is Wagner's third completed opera, and is mostly written in a Grand Opera style, in which the influence of Giacomo Meyerbeer is paramount. It was intended to be premiered at the Paris Opéra, but several circumstances, including the need for Wagner to flee from the city, prevented the performance. The first performance in Dresden was well received despite running over six hours (including intermissions). Later, Wagner experimented both with giving the opera over two evenings and making cuts for performance in a single evening.

Because of its atypical style, and its sheer length, Rienzi is rarely performed today, and has never been performed at the Bayreuth Festival. Wagner later saw the work as an embarrassment, but it remained one of his most successful until his death. A staging at the English National Opera in London, produced by Nicholas Hytner in the 1980s, placed the hero in the context of 20th century totalitarianism.

The opera concerns the life of Cola di Rienzi, a medieval Italian populist figure who succeeds in outwitting and then defeating the nobles and their followers and in raising the power of the people. Magnanimous at first, he is forced by events to crush the nobles' rebellion against the people's power, but popular opinion changes and even the Church, which has earlier urged him to assert himself, turns against him. In the end the populace burns the Capitol, in which Rienzi and a few adherents have made a last stand.

Roles

Recordings

Complete recordings (and performances) of Rienzi are rare, although the overture is regularly found on radio broadcasts and compilation CDs. Significant cuts to the score are common in recordings.

• Josef Krips conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Walter Berry, Christa Ludwig, Alois Pernerstorfer, Paul Schöffler. 1960 (Melodram).
• Heinrich Hollreiser conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle. René Kollo, Siv Wennberg, Janis Martin, Theo Adam. 1975 (EMI). (Complete recording of Wagner's shortened 1843 version)
• Edward Downes conducting the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra. John Mitchinson, Lorna Haywood, Michael Langdon, Raimund Herincx. 1976 (Ponto POCD1040) (Complete and uncut recording of Wagner's "original" 1842 version)
• Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra. René Kollo, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Cheryl Studer, John Janssen. 1983 (Orfeo d'Oro)

Recordings of the overture include: James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, Lorin Maazel conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

References

The New Kobbé's Complete Opera Book (11th edition), 1997.

External links

• Synopsis from Stanford University
• Complete text of Bulwer-Lytton's Rienzi at Project Gutenberg.
• MIDI recording of the overture.
• Further Rienzi discography
• IMSLP Complete Vocal Score [1]