Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen

Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen, a five-act opera by R. Wagner, first performed in Dresden on 20 October 1842. It is based on Bulwer-Lytton's novel Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes (1835). Cola di Rienzi, a commoner, becomes people's tribune in the 14th-c. Roman republic, but is attacked by the nobles, who are jealous of his success. He and his sister Irene die in the Capitol, which has been set on fire by nobles and people (1354). Wagner wrote his own words for this, his first operatic success.