History

Die Feen (The Fairies) is one of Richard Wagner's earlier operas. Rarely performed today, it was both started and quickly completed in 1833, when the composer was only 20 years old; the opera remained unheard until after his death in 1883. Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 in Leipzig – February 13, 1883 in Venice) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his groundbreaking symphonic-operas (or music dramas). His compositions are notable for their continuous contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate... The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. ... 1833 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Wagner's 2nd Opera

Before embarking on it, he wrote a libretto for a different opera before scrapping it — therefore it is technically not the composer's first operatic output. A libretto is the body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, oratorio, or musical. ...

Harmonic Complexity

Being such an early oeuvre, Die Feen is much more harmonically stable than Wagner's later operas, which saw him discarding tonality completely in complex chromatic chains of melody. In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In music, a melody is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord. ...

Performances

Although today regarded as a puerile and relatively worthless piece, the opera proved crucial in Wagner's development as a composer and a man. The first performance was given in Munich shortly after the composers death. The manuscrpt was officially the possession of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, given to him by the composer himself. The original manuscript was later given as a gift to Adolf Hitler, and perished with him in flames in the Berlin bunker in the final days of World War II.   Adolf Hitler? (April 20, 1889–April 30, 1945) was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. ...

Recordings & DVDs

Die Feen remains the only Wagner opera yet to be recorded for broadcast TV or video. There are some audio recordings however, and the most frequently available is a live 1982 performance conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch. Wolfgang Sawallisch (born August 26, 1923) is a German conductor and pianist. ...