Rienzi
Sign in to save'''''''' (Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an 1842 opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward 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 Königliches Hoftheater Dresden, on 20 October 1842, and was the composer's first success.
Key facts
- Opera.name
- Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen
- Opera.genre
- Opera
- Opera.image
- Illustration of the last scene of Act3 of 'Rienzi' by Wagner at the Théâtre Lyrique 1869 - Bauer 1983p31.jpg
- Opera.image_upright
- 1.2
- Opera.caption
- Last scene of act 3 of Rienzi at the Théâtre Lyrique, 1869
- Opera.composer
- Richard Wagner
- Opera.librettist
- Richard Wagner
- Opera.based_on
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel Rienzi
- Opera.language
- German
- Opera.premiere_location
- Königliches Hoftheater Dresden
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Illustration of the last scene of Act3 of 'Rienzi' by Wagner at the Théâtre Lyrique 1869 - Bauer 1983p31.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- Commons category
- Rienzi
- date of first performance
- 1842-10-20
- inception
- 1837-00-00
- number of parts of this work
- 5
- publication date
- 1850-00-00
- title
- Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen
- catalog code
- 48
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~21 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Composition history
- Performance history
- Roles
- Synopsis
- Overture
- Act 1
- Act 2
- Act 3
- Act 4
- Act 5
- Reception and performances
- ''Rienzi'' and Adolf Hitler
- Editions
- Recordings
- References
- Notes
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
'''''''' (Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an 1842 opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward 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 Königliches Hoftheater Dresden, on 20 October 1842, and was the composer's first success.
The opera is set in Rome and is based on the life of Cola di Rienzo (1313–1354), a late 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 had 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.