Bust of Cosima Wagner in Bayreuth Festspielpark

Cosima Wagner in London (1877)

Cosima Francesca Gaetana Wagner (December 24, 1837 - April 1, 1930) was the daughter of the virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt. She became famous as the second wife of the German composer Richard Wagner and, after his death, as director of the Bayreuth Festival for 31 years. Cosima Wagner. ... Cosima Wagner. ... The Bayreuth Festspielhaus (Bayreuth Festival Theatre) is an opera house built to the north of the town of Bayreuth in Germany, dedicated to the performance of Richard Wagners operas. ... Image File history File links Cosima Wagner, wife of Richard Wagner. ... Image File history File links Cosima Wagner, wife of Richard Wagner. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. ... Portrait of Franz Liszt, painted in 1839 by Henri Lehmann. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as he later came to call them). ... Bayreuth Festspielhaus, as seen in 1882 The annual Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, Germany is devoted principally (but not exclusively) to performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. ...

She was born out of wedlock, at Bellagio, Italy, to the Countess Marie d'Agoult, an author using the pen name Daniel Stern, a long-standing mistress of Liszt. In 1857, Cosima married Hans von Bülow, a piano virtuoso and teacher and orchestral conductor. Her father, Franz Liszt, had introduced her to Richard Wagner in 1853. After marrying von Bülöw, she came into frequent contact with Wagner, himself 24 years her senior and still married to Minna Planer. They became intimate in 1863, and in 1866, they set up house together in a villa at Triebschen, paid for by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, on the shore of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Cosima already had two children from her first marriage, and her future children by Wagner - Isolde, Eva and Siegfried - were born before she married him. From 1869 to 1883, she kept a diary of their life together, which was later published. Although her mother was a descendant of well known Jewish family of Bethman, Cosima was a notorious anti-Semite, even much more than Wagner. She directed the Bayreuth Festival from the death of Richard Wagner (1883) to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. When the Festival re-opened in 1924, it was under the direction of her son Siegfried. She died at age 92 at Bayreuth. Bellagio is a resort town on the Italy. ... Marie Catherine Sophie de Flavigny, Vicomtesse de Flavigny (December 31, 1805 - March 5, 1876), known also by her married name and title, Marie, Comtesse dAgoult, and by her pen name, Daniel Stern; an author and a paramour of Franz Liszt. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Hans von Bülow. ... 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Ludwig (Louis) II, King of Bavaria, Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm, also known as Ludwig the Mad, and Mad King Ludwig (August 25, 1845 - June 13, 1886) was king of Bavaria from 1864 until his death. ... Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee, lit. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... == c programming[[a--203. ... Bayreuth Festspielhaus, as seen in 1882 The annual Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, Germany is devoted principally (but not exclusively) to performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. ... Siegfried Wagner (6 June 1869 - 4 August 1930) was the son of Richard Wagner and Cosima von Bülow and the grandson of Franz Liszt. ... Bayreuth [pronounced by-royt] is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. ...

References

• George R. Marek: Cosima Wagner. New York: Harper & Row, 1981. ISBN 0-06-012704-X

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