RIENZI - PRESENTATION BY ANTHONY ERNST
Anthony Ernst concluded his survey of Wagner's earliest completed
operas with a rewarding and illuminating discussion of Rienzi,
the last of the Tribunes that premiered in Dresden on 20 October
1842 with the orchestra of the Königlich Sächsisches Hoftheater.
Mr Ernst pointed out a number of interesting features of the work
and its premiere, including the fact that many of the singers in Rienzi's
premiere were to sing in many of Wagner's later operas, including
Wilhemine Schröder-Devrient and Joseph Tichatschek who helped
make Tristan und Isolde a success. Mr Ernst noted that Rienzi
lacked a critical edition and that any contemporary performance had
to choose from a variety of versions with multitudes of cuts made
at various times to deal with the opera's five hour plus length. Wagner's
own reactions to the premiere, which began at 6:00pm and concluded
after midnight, included a strong desire to cut the work severely.
Mr Ernst drew out the political strands of both the opera and Wagner's
life, including the fact that Wagner made a point of visiting the
English Parliament during his visit to London (when he failed to meet
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the author of the novel Rienzi for the
opera he was already sketching) to see how a relatively democratic
system worked in comparison to the more oppressive autocratic monarchies
he had so far seen. It was only seven years later that Wagner mounted
the barricades for the Dresden uprising of 1849 that resulted in his
banishment - a little like Rienzi banished from Rome? It was partly
this experience of mixing politics with life and art that changed
Wagner's interest from writing operas based on history to music dramas
based on mythology.
After a helpful overview of the facts of the real Rienzi's life and
turbulent times, Mr Ernst then suggested that the figure of Rienzi
was the first of a number of heroes who incarnated Wagner's interest
in the risky relationship between leaders and the crowds they lead.
Lohengrin, Tannhäuser and Parsifal can be seen in this light.
. [It also raises the interesting parallel between Wagner's own self-image
as the heroic "artist of the future" who had an ambivalent relationship
with the Volk or community that was both the source of the
artist's legitimacy and inspiration and the ultimate recipients of
the artist's creations. Ed.
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