Editing Richard Wagner (section)

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
[[File:Wagnerbruhl.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Wagner's birthplace, at 3, [[Brühl (Leipzig)|the Brühl]], Leipzig|alt=A building with four main storeys with an open shop to one side of an arched entrance and garret windows in the roof. A sculpted figure of an animal is above the arch.]]
Richard Wagner was born on 22 May 1813 to an [[Wagner family tree|ethnic German family]] in [[Leipzig]], then part of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. His family lived at No 3, the [[Brühl (Leipzig)|Brühl]] (''The House of the Red and White Lions'') in Leipzig's [[Jewish quarter (diaspora)|Jewish quarter]].{{refn|On the Brühl as a centre of the Jewish quarter, see e.g. the [https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/leipzig Leipzig page of the Museum of the Jewish People website], and the [https://www.lbi.org/exhibitions/our-midst-facets-jewish-life-leipzig-modern-era/ Leo Baeck Institute page] on the Jewish history of Leipzig, also the [http://germansynagogues.com/ "Destroyed German Synagogues"] site page on Leipzig, (all accessed 19 April 2020.)|group=n}} He was baptised at [[St. Thomas Church, Leipzig|St. Thomas Church]]. He was the ninth child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, {{ill|Johanna Rosine (née Pätz)|de|Johanna Rosine Wagner}}, the daughter of a baker.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=3}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 12}}{{refn|Of their children, two (Carl Gustave and Maria Theresia) died as infants. The others were Wagner's brothers Albert and Carl Julius, and his sisters {{ill|Rosalie Wagner|de}}, {{ill|Luise Brockhaus|de}}, Clara and Ottilie. Except for Carl Julius becoming a goldsmith, all his siblings developed careers connected with the stage. Wagner also had a younger half-sister, Caecilie, born in 1815 to his mother and her second husband Geyer.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=97}} See also [[Wagner family tree]].|group=n}} Wagner's father Carl died of [[typhoid fever]] six months after Richard's birth. Afterwards, his mother Johanna lived with Carl's friend, the actor and playwright [[Ludwig Geyer]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 6}} In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married, although no documentation of this has been found in the Leipzig church registers.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=7 and n}} She and her family moved to Geyer's residence in [[Dresden]]. Until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 9}}

Geyer's love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography [[Mein Leben (Wagner)|''Mein Leben'']] Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=5}} In late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzel's school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 32–33}} He struggled to play a proper [[Scale (music)|scale]] at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures [[Learning music by ear|by ear]]. Following Geyer's death in 1821, Richard was sent to the [[Kreuzschule]], the boarding school of the [[Dresdner Kreuzchor]], at the expense of Geyer's brother.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 45–55}} At the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] elements of [[Carl Maria von Weber]]'s opera ''[[Der Freischütz]],'' which he saw Weber conduct.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=78}} At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright. His first creative effort, listed in the ''[[Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis]]'' (the standard listing of Wagner's works) as WWV 1, was a tragedy called ''[[Leubald]]''. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was strongly influenced by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]. Wagner was determined to set it to music and persuaded his family to allow him music lessons.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=25–27}}{{refn|This sketch is referred to alternatively as ''Leubald und Adelaide''.|group=n}}

By 1827, the family had returned to Leipzig. Wagner's first lessons in [[harmony]] were taken during 1828–1831 with {{ill|Christian Gottlieb Müller|de}}.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 63, 71}} In January 1828 he first heard [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|7th Symphony]] and then, in March, the same composer's [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|9th Symphony]], both at the [[Gewandhaus]]. Beethoven became a major inspiration, and Wagner wrote a piano transcription of the 9th Symphony.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=35–36}} He was also greatly impressed by a performance of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]].''{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 62}} Wagner's early [[piano sonata]]s and his first attempts at orchestral [[overture]]s date from this period.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 76–77}}

In 1829 he saw a performance by [[dramatic soprano]] [[Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient]], who became his ideal of the fusion of drama and music in opera. In ''Mein Leben'' Wagner wrote, "When I look back across my entire life I find no event to place beside this in the impression it produced on me," and claimed that the "profoundly human and ecstatic performance of this incomparable artist" kindled in him an "almost demonic fire".{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=37}}{{refn|Wagner claimed to have seen Schröder-Devrient in the title role of ''[[Fidelio]]'', but it seems more likely that he saw her performance as Romeo in [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[I Capuleti e i Montecchi]]''.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=133}}|group=n}}

In 1831, Wagner enrolled at the [[Leipzig University]], where he became a member of the Saxon [[Studentenverbindung|student fraternity]].{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=44}} He took composition lessons with the [[Thomaskantor]] [[Christian Theodor Weinlig|Theodor Weinlig]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 85–86}} Weinlig was so impressed with Wagner's musical ability that he refused any payment for his lessons. He arranged for his pupil's Piano Sonata in B-flat major (which was consequently dedicated to him) to be published as Wagner's Op. 1. A year later, Wagner composed his [[Symphony in C major (Wagner)|Symphony in C major]], a Beethovenesque work performed in Prague in 1832{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=309}} and at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1833.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 95}} He then began to work on an opera, ''[[Die Hochzeit]]'' (''The Wedding''), which he never completed.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=321}}

=== Early career and marriage (1833–1842) ===
[[File:Minna.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Minna Planer|Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer]] (1835), by Alexander von Otterstedt|alt=The head and upper torso of a young white woman with dark hair done in an elaborate style. She wears a small hat, a cloak and dress that expose her shoulders and pearl earrings. On her left hand that holds the edge of the cloak, two rings are visible.]]
In 1833, Wagner's brother Albert managed to obtain for him a position as choirmaster at the theatre in [[Würzburg]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 98}} In the same year, at the age of 20, Wagner composed his first complete opera, ''[[Die Feen]]'' (''The Fairies''). This work, which imitated the style of Weber, went unproduced until half a century later, when it was premiered in [[Munich]] shortly after the composer's death in 1883.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=271–273}}

Having returned to Leipzig in 1834, Wagner held a brief appointment as musical director at the opera house in [[Magdeburg]]{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 173}} during which he wrote ''[[Das Liebesverbot]]'' (''The Ban on Love''), based on Shakespeare's ''[[Measure for Measure]]''. This was staged at Magdeburg in 1836 but closed before the second performance; this, together with the financial collapse of the theatre company employing him, left the composer in bankruptcy.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=273–274}}{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=52}} Wagner had fallen for one of the leading ladies at Magdeburg, the actress [[Minna Planer|Christine Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer]],{{sfn|Millington|2002b}} and after the disaster of ''Das Liebesverbot'' he followed her to [[Königsberg]], where she helped him to get an engagement at the theatre.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 212}} The two married in [[Tragheim Church]] on 24 November 1836.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 214}} In May 1837, Minna left Wagner for another man,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 217}} and this was only the first débâcle of a tempestuous marriage. In June 1837, Wagner moved to [[Riga]] (then in the [[Russian Empire]]), where he became music director of the local opera;{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 226–227}} having in this capacity engaged Minna's sister Amalie (also a singer) for the theatre, he presently resumed relations with Minna during 1838.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 229–231}}

By 1839, the couple had amassed such large debts that they fled Riga on the run from creditors.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 242–243}} Debts plagued Wagner for most of his life.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=116–118}} Initially the pair took a stormy sea passage to London,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 249–250}} from which Wagner drew the inspiration for his opera ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (''The Flying Dutchman''), with a plot based on a sketch by [[Heinrich Heine]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=277}} The Wagners settled in Paris in September 1839{{sfn|Millington|2002b}} and stayed there until 1842. During these years, Wagner is believed to have attended [[François Delsarte|François Delsarte's]] "Cours d'esthétique appliquée," which arguably influenced his aesthetic writings and compositional style.<ref>Bradley Hoover (2025). ''[https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009608749 The Aesthetic System of François Delsarte and Richard Wagner: Catholicism, Romanticism, and Ancient Music]''. Cambridge University Press.</ref> Wagner made a scant living by writing articles and short novelettes such as ''A pilgrimage to Beethoven'', which sketched his growing concept of "music drama", and ''An end in Paris'', where he depicts his own miseries as a German musician in the French metropolis.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 268–324}} He also provided arrangements of operas by other composers, largely on behalf of the [[Maurice Schlesinger|Schlesinger]] publishing house. During this stay he completed his third and fourth operas ''[[Rienzi]]'' and ''Der fliegende Holländer''.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 268–324}}

=== Dresden (1842–1849) ===
[[File:Richard Wagner c.1840.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Wagner {{circa|1840}}, by Ernest Benedikt Kietz|alt=The head and upper body of a young white man with dark hair receding where it is parted on the left. Sideburns run the full length of his face. He wears a cravat and his right hand is tucked between the buttons of his coat.]]
Wagner had completed ''Rienzi'' in 1840. With the strong support of [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]],{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, p. 316}} it was accepted for performance by the Dresden [[Semperoper#History|Court Theatre]] (''Hofoper'') in the [[Kingdom of Saxony]], and in 1842 Wagner moved to Dresden. His relief at returning to Germany was recorded in his "[[Autobiographic Sketch (Wagner)|Autobiographic Sketch]]" of 1842, where he wrote that, en route from Paris, "For the first time I saw the [[Rhine]]—with hot tears in my eyes, I, poor artist, swore eternal fidelity to my German fatherland."{{sfn|Wagner|1994c|p=19}} ''Rienzi'' was staged to considerable acclaim on 20 October.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=274}}

Wagner lived in Dresden for the next six years, eventually being appointed the Royal Saxon Court Conductor.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=I, pp. 325–509}} During this period, he staged there ''Der fliegende Holländer'' (2 January 1843){{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=276}} and [[Tannhäuser (opera)|''Tannhäuser'']] (19 October 1845),{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=279}} the first two of his three middle-period operas. Wagner also mixed with artistic circles in Dresden, including the composer [[Ferdinand Hiller]] and the architect [[Gottfried Semper]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=31}}{{sfn|Conway|2012|pp=192–193}}

Wagner's involvement in [[left-wing politics]] abruptly ended his welcome in Dresden. Wagner was active among [[socialist]] German nationalists there, regularly receiving such guests as the conductor and radical editor [[August Röckel]] and the Russian [[Anarchism|anarchist]] [[Mikhail Bakunin]].{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=118}} He was also influenced by the ideas of [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and [[Ludwig Feuerbach]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=140–144}} Widespread discontent came to a head in 1849, when the unsuccessful [[May Uprising in Dresden]] broke out, in which Wagner played a [[May Uprising in Dresden#Prominent figures amongst the revolutionaries|minor supporting role]]. Warrants were issued for the revolutionaries' arrest. Wagner had to flee, first visiting Paris and then settling in [[Zürich]]{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=417–420}}{{refn|Röckel and Bakunin failed to escape and endured long terms of imprisonment.|group=n}} where he at first took refuge with a friend, [[Alexander Müller (composer)|Alexander Müller]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |translator-last=Ellis |translator-first=William Ashton |year=1911 |title=Family Letters of Richard Wagner |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924017758073 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924017758073/page/n173 154] }}</ref>

=== In exile: Switzerland (1849–1858) ===
[[File:Richard Wagners Steckbrief 1849.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A printed notice in German with elaborate Gothic capitals. Wagner is described as 37 to 38 of middle height with brown hair and glasses.|Warrant for the arrest of Richard Wagner, issued on 16 May 1849]]
Wagner was to spend the next twelve years in exile from Germany. He had completed ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'', the last of his middle-period operas, before the Dresden uprising, and now wrote desperately to his friend [[Franz Liszt]] to have it staged in his absence. Liszt conducted the premiere in [[Weimar]] in August 1850.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagner|1987|p=199}}. Letter from Richard Wagner to Franz Liszt, 21 April 1850. See also {{harvnb|Millington|2001a|pp=282, 285}}</ref>

Nevertheless, Wagner was in grim personal straits, isolated from the German musical world and without any regular income. In 1850, Julie, the wife of his friend Karl Ritter, began to pay him a small pension which she maintained until 1859. With help from her friend Jessie Laussot, this was to have been augmented to an annual sum of 3,000 [[thaler]]s per year, but the plan was abandoned when Wagner began an affair with Mme. Laussot. Wagner even plotted an elopement with her in 1850, which her husband prevented.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=27, 30}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 133–56, 247–48, 404–05}} Meanwhile, Wagner's wife Minna, who had disliked the operas he had written after ''Rienzi'', was falling into a deepening [[depression (mood disorder)|depression]]. Wagner fell victim to ill health, according to [[Ernest Newman]] "largely a matter of overwrought nerves", which made it difficult for him to continue writing.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 137–38}}{{refn|Gutman records him as suffering from [[constipation]] and [[Herpes zoster|shingles]].{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=142}}|group=n}}

Wagner's primary published output during his first years in Zürich was a set of essays. In "[[The Artwork of the Future]]" (1849), he described a vision of opera as ''[[Gesamtkunstwerk]]'' (total work of art), in which music, song, dance, poetry, visual arts and stagecraft were unified. "[[Judaism in Music]]" (1850){{refn|Full English translation in {{harvnb|Wagner|1995c}}|group=n}} was the first of Wagner's writings to feature [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] views.{{sfn|Conway|2012|pp=197–98}} In this polemic Wagner asserted—often with vulgar, abusive language—that Jews lived as "outsiders" amid European societies and were disconnected from the national spirit ([[Geist#Volksgeist|''Volksgeist'']]) of these countries, thus capable of producing only shallow and artificial imitations of European art music, despite having achieved technical proficiency in its study. According to Wagner, Jews such as Meyerbeer commercialised music catered to the masses in order to achieve fame and financial success, rather than creating genuine works of art.{{sfn|Conway|2012|pp=261–63}}

In "[[Opera and Drama]]" (1851), Wagner described the [[aesthetics]] of music drama that he was using to create the ''Ring'' cycle. Before leaving Dresden, Wagner had drafted a scenario that eventually became ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]''. He initially [[Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the poem|wrote the libretto]] for a single opera, ''{{ill|Siegfrieds Tod|fr}}'' (''Siegfried's Death''), in 1848. After arriving in Zürich, he expanded the story with ''Der junge Siegfried'' (''Young Siegfried''), which explored the [[Sigurd|hero's]] background. He completed the text of the cycle by writing the libretti for ''[[Die Walküre]]'' (''The [[Valkyrie]]'') and ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' (''The Rhine Gold'') and revising the other libretti to conform to his new concept, completing them in 1852.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=297}} The concept of opera expressed in "Opera and Drama" and in other essays effectively renounced all the operas he had previously written through ''Lohengrin.'' Partly in an attempt to explain his change of views, Wagner published in 1851 the autobiographical "[[A Communication to My Friends]]".<ref>See {{harvnb|Treadwell|2008|pp=182–90}}</ref> This included his first public announcement of what was to become the ''Ring'' cycle:
<blockquote>I shall never write an ''Opera'' more. As I have no wish to invent an arbitrary title for my works, I will call them Dramas&nbsp;...

I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas, preceded by a lengthy Prelude (Vorspiel)....

At a specially-appointed Festival, I propose, some future time, to produce those three Dramas with their Prelude, ''in the course of three days and a fore-evening'' [emphasis in original].{{sfn|Wagner|1994c|loc=391 and n}}</blockquote>

Wagner began composing the music for ''Das Rheingold'' between November 1853 and September 1854, following it immediately with ''Die Walküre'' (written between June 1854 and March 1856).{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=289, 292}} He began work on the third ''Ring'' drama, which he now called simply ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', probably in September 1856, but by June 1857 he had completed only the first two acts. He decided to put the work aside to concentrate on a new idea: ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'',{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=289, 294, 300}} based on the [[Matter of Britain|Arthurian]] love story ''[[Tristan and Iseult]]''.

[[File:Mathilde Wesendonck by Karl Ferdinand Sohn, 1850.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Portrait of [[Mathilde Wesendonck]] (1850) by [[Karl Ferdinand Sohn]]|alt=A three-quarter length portrait of a young white woman in the open air. She wears a shawl over an elaborate long-sleeved dress that exposes her shoulders and has a hat on over her centrally parted dark hair.]]
One source of inspiration for ''Tristan und Isolde'' was the philosophy of [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], notably his ''[[The World as Will and Representation]]'', to which Wagner had been introduced in 1854 by his poet friend [[Georg Herwegh]]. Wagner later called this the most important event of his life.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|pp=508–510}}{{refn|Others agree on the profound importance of this work to Wagner – see {{harvnb|Magee|2000|pp=133–34}}|group=n}} His personal circumstances certainly made him an easy convert to what he understood to be Schopenhauer's philosophy, sometimes categorised as "[[philosophical pessimism]]". He remained an adherent of Schopenhauer for the rest of his life.<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Magee|2000|pp=276–78}}</ref>

One of Schopenhauer's doctrines was that music held a supreme role in the arts as a direct expression of the world's essence, namely, blind, impulsive will.{{sfn|Magee|1988|pp=77–78}} This doctrine contradicted Wagner's view, expressed in "Opera and Drama", that the music in opera had to be subservient to the drama. Wagner scholars have argued that Schopenhauer's influence caused Wagner to assign a more commanding role to music in his later operas, including the latter half of the ''Ring'' cycle, which he had yet to compose.<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Dahlhaus|1979}}</ref>{{refn|The influence was noted by Nietzsche in his "[[On the Genealogy of Morality]]": "[the] fascinating position of Schopenhauer on art&nbsp;... was apparently the reason Richard Wagner first moved over to Schopenhauer&nbsp;... That shift was so great that it opened up a complete theoretical contrast between his earlier and his later aesthetic beliefs."{{sfn|Nietzsche|2009|loc=III, p. 5.}}|group=n}} Aspects of Schopenhauerian doctrine found their way into Wagner's subsequent libretti.{{refn|For example, the self-renouncing cobbler-poet [[Hans Sachs]] in ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' is a "Schopenhauerian" creation; Schopenhauer asserted that goodness and salvation result from renunciation of the world, and turning against and denying one's own will.<ref>See {{harvnb|Magee|2000|pp=251–53}}</ref>|group=n}}

A second source of inspiration was Wagner's infatuation with the poet-writer [[Mathilde Wesendonck]], the wife of the silk merchant {{ill|Otto Wesendonck|de|Otto Wesendonck (Kaufmann)}}. Wagner met the Wesendoncks, who were both great admirers of his music, in Zürich in 1852. From May 1853 onwards Wesendonck made several loans to Wagner to finance his household expenses in Zürich,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 415–18, 516–18}} and in 1857 placed a cottage on his estate at Wagner's disposal,{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=168–69}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 508–09}} which became known as the ''Asyl'' ("asylum" or "place of rest"). During this period, Wagner's growing passion for his patron's wife inspired him to put aside work on the ''Ring'' cycle (which was not resumed for the next twelve years) and begin work on ''Tristan''.{{sfn|Millington|2001b}} While planning the opera, Wagner composed the ''[[Wesendonck Lieder]]'', five songs for voice and piano, setting poems by Mathilde. Two of these settings are explicitly subtitled by Wagner as "studies for ''Tristan und Isolde''".{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=318}}

Among the conducting engagements that Wagner undertook for revenue during this period, he gave several concerts in 1855 with the [[Royal Philharmonic Society|Philharmonic Society of London]], including one before [[Queen Victoria]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 473–76}} The Queen enjoyed his ''Tannhäuser'' overture and spoke with Wagner after the concert, writing in her diary that Wagner was "short, very quiet, wears spectacles & has a very finely-developed forehead, a hooked nose & projecting chin."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Spencer|2000|p=93}}</ref>

=== In exile: Venice and Paris (1858–1862) ===
Wagner's uneasy affair with Mathilde collapsed in 1858, when Minna intercepted a letter to Mathilde from him.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 540–542}} After the resulting confrontation with Minna, Wagner left Zürich alone, bound for [[Venice]], where he rented an apartment in the [[Palazzo Giustinian (Dorsoduro)|Palazzo Giustinian]], while Minna returned to Germany.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=II, pp. 559–567}} Wagner's attitude to Minna had changed; the editor of his correspondence with her, John Burk, has said that she was to him "an invalid, to be treated with kindness and consideration, but, except at a distance, [was] a menace to his peace of mind."{{sfn|Burk|1950|p=405}} Wagner continued his correspondence with Mathilde and his friendship with her husband Otto, who maintained his financial support of the composer. In an 1859 letter to Mathilde, Wagner wrote, half-satirically, of ''Tristan'': "Child! This Tristan is turning into something ''terrible''. This final act!!!—I fear the opera will be banned&nbsp;... only mediocre performances can save me! Perfectly good ones will be bound to drive people mad."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Daverio|2008|p=116}}. Letter from Richard Wagner to Mathilde Wesendonck, April 1859</ref>

[[File:Richard Wagner, Paris, 1861.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Wagner in Paris, 1861|alt=A photograph of the upper half of a man of about fifty viewed from his front right. He wears a cravat and frock coat. He has long sideburns and his dark hair is receding at the temples.]]
In November 1859, Wagner once again moved to Paris to oversee production of a new revision of ''Tannhäuser'', staged thanks to the efforts of Princess [[Pauline von Metternich]], whose husband, [[Richard von Metternich]], was the Austrian ambassador in Paris. The performances of the Paris ''Tannhäuser'' in 1861 were [[Tannhäuser (opera)#The Paris première|a notable fiasco]]. This was partly a consequence of the conservative tastes of the [[Jockey-Club de Paris|Jockey Club]], which organised demonstrations in the theatre to protest at the presentation of the ballet feature in Act&nbsp;1 (instead of its traditional location in the second act); but the opportunity was also exploited by those who wanted to use the occasion as a veiled political protest against the pro-Austrian policies of [[Napoleon III]].{{sfn|Deathridge|1984}} It was during this visit that Wagner met the French poet [[Charles Baudelaire]], who wrote an appreciative brochure, "{{Lang|fr|Richard Wagner et Tannhäuser à Paris}}".{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 8–9}} The opera was withdrawn after the third performance and Wagner left Paris soon after.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=315–320}} He had sought a reconciliation with Minna during this Paris visit, and although she joined him there, the reunion was not successful and they again parted from each other when Wagner left.{{sfn|Burk|1950|pp=378–379}}

=== Return and resurgence (1862–1871) ===
The political ban that had been placed on Wagner in the [[North German Confederation]] after he had fled Dresden was fully lifted in 1862. The composer settled in [[Biebrich (Wiesbaden)|Biebrich]], on the Rhine near [[Wiesbaden]] in [[Hesse]].{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=293–303}} Here Minna visited him for the last time: they parted irrevocably,{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=215–216}} though Wagner continued to give financial support to her while she lived in Dresden until her death in 1866.{{sfn|Burk|1950|pp=409–428}}

[[File:De 20 jarige Ludwig II in kroningsmantel door Ferdinand von Piloty 1865.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Portrait of [[Ludwig II of Bavaria]] about the time when he first met Wagner, by {{interlanguage link|Ferdinand von Piloty|de}}, 1865|alt=A young man in a dark military jacket, jodhpurs, long boots, and a voluminous ermine robe. He wears a sword at his side, a sash, a chain and a large star. Mainly hidden by his robe is a throne and behind that is a curtain with a crest with Ludwig's name and title in Latin. To one side a cushion holding a crown sits on a table.]]
In Biebrich, Wagner, at last, began work on ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', his only mature comedy. Wagner wrote a first draft of the libretto in 1845,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=301}} and he had resolved to develop it during a visit he had made to Venice with the Wesendoncks in 1860, where he was inspired by [[Titian]]'s painting ''[[Assumption of the Virgin (Titian)|The Assumption of the Virgin]]''.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=667}} Throughout this period (1861–1864) Wagner sought to have ''Tristan und Isolde'' produced in Vienna.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=321–330}} Despite many rehearsals, the opera remained unperformed, and gained a reputation as being "impossible" to sing, which added to Wagner's financial problems.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 147–148}}

Wagner's fortunes took a dramatic upturn in 1864, when [[Ludwig II of Bavaria|King Ludwig II]] succeeded to the throne of [[Bavaria]] at the age of 18. The young king, an ardent admirer of Wagner's operas, had the composer brought to Munich.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 212–220}} The King, who was homosexual, expressed in his correspondence a passionate personal adoration for the composer,{{refn|E.g. "My dearest Beloved!", "My beloved, my most glorious Friend" and "O Holy One, I worship you".<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=337–338}}</ref>|group=n}} and Wagner in his responses had no scruples about feigning reciprocal feelings.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=336–338}}{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=231–232}}{{refn|Wagner excused himself in 1878, when discussing this correspondence with Cosima, by saying "The tone wasn't good, but I didn't set it."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=338}}</ref>|group=n}} Ludwig settled Wagner's considerable debts{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=339}} and proposed to stage ''Tristan'', ''Die Meistersinger'', the ''Ring'', and the other operas Wagner planned.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=346}} Wagner also began to dictate his autobiography, ''Mein Leben'', at the King's request.{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=741}} Wagner noted that his rescue by Ludwig coincided with news of the death of his earlier mentor (but later supposed enemy) [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]], and regretted that "this operatic master, who had done me so much harm, should not have lived to see this day."{{sfn|Wagner|1992|p=739}}

After grave difficulties in rehearsal, ''Tristan und Isolde'' premiered at the [[National Theatre Munich]] on 10 June 1865, the first Wagner opera premiere in almost 15 years. (The premiere had been scheduled for 15 May, but was delayed by bailiffs acting for Wagner's creditors,{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=354}} and also because the Isolde, [[Malvina Garrigues|Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld]], was hoarse and needed time to recover.) The conductor of this premiere was [[Hans von Bülow]], whose wife, [[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]], had given birth in April that year to a daughter, named [[Isolde Beidler|Isolde]], a child not of Bülow but of Wagner.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, p. 366}}

Cosima was 24 years younger than Wagner and was herself illegitimate, the daughter of the Countess [[Marie d'Agoult]], who had left her husband for [[Franz Liszt]].{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=32–33}} Liszt initially disapproved of his daughter's involvement with Wagner, though nevertheless the two men were friends.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, p. 530}} The indiscreet affair scandalised Munich, and Wagner also fell into disfavour with many leading members of the court, who were suspicious of his influence on the King.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, p. 496}} In December 1865, Ludwig was finally forced to ask the composer to leave Munich.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 499–501}} He apparently also toyed with the idea of abdicating to follow his hero into exile, but Wagner quickly dissuaded him.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 538–539}}

[[File:Fritz Luckhardt - Richard y Cosima Wagner (9 de mayo de 1872, Viena).jpg|thumb|upright|Richard and Cosima Wagner, photographed in 1872|alt=A couple is shown: On the left is a tall woman of about 30. She wears a voluminous dress and is sitting sideways in an upright chair, facing and looking up into the eyes of the man who is on the right. He is about 60, quite short, and balding at the temples. He is dressed in a suit with a tailcoat and wears a cravat. He faces and looks down at the woman. His hand rests on the back of the chair.]]
Ludwig installed Wagner at the [[Villa Tribschen]], beside Switzerland's [[Lake Lucerne]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=III, pp. 518–519}} ''Die Meistersinger'' was completed at Tribschen in 1867, and premiered in Munich on 21 June the following year.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=301}} At Ludwig's insistence, "special previews" of the first two works of the ''Ring'', ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', were performed at Munich in 1869 and 1870,{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=287, 290}} but Wagner retained his dream, first expressed in "A Communication to My Friends", to present the first complete cycle at a special festival with a new, dedicated, [[opera house]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wagner|1994c|loc=391 and n}}; {{harvnb|Spotts|1994|pp=37–40}}</ref>

Minna died of a heart attack on 25 January 1866 in Dresden. Wagner did not attend the funeral.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=367}}{{refn|Wagner claimed to be unable to travel to the funeral due to an "inflamed finger".{{sfn|Gutman|1990|p=262}}|group=n}} Following Minna's death Cosima wrote to Hans von Bülow several times asking him to grant her a divorce, but Bülow refused to concede this. He consented only after she had two more children with Wagner: another daughter, named [[Eva Chamberlain|Eva]], after the heroine of ''Meistersinger'', and a son [[Siegfried Wagner|Siegfried]], named after the hero of the ''Ring''. The divorce was finally sanctioned, after delays in the legal process, by a Berlin court on 18 July 1870.{{sfn|Hilmes|2011|p=118}} Richard and Cosima's wedding took place on 25 August 1870.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=17}} On Christmas Day of that year, Wagner arranged a surprise performance (its premiere) of the ''[[Siegfried Idyll]]'' for Cosima's birthday.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=311}}{{refn|Cosima's birthday was 24 December, but she usually celebrated it on Christmas Day.|group=n}} The marriage to Cosima lasted to the end of Wagner's life.

Wagner, settled into his new-found domesticity, turned his energies towards completing the ''Ring'' cycle. He had not abandoned polemics: he republished his 1850 pamphlet "Judaism in Music", originally issued under a pseudonym, under his own name in 1869, extending the introduction and adding a lengthy final section. The publication led to several public protests at early performances of ''Die Meistersinger'' in Vienna and Mannheim.{{sfn|Weiner|1997|p=123}}

=== Bayreuth (1871–1876) ===
In 1871, Wagner decided to move to [[Bayreuth]], which was to be the location of his new opera house.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=400}} The town council donated a large plot of land—the "Green Hill"—as a site for the theatre. The Wagners moved to the town the following year, and the foundation stone for the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]] ("Festival Theatre") was laid. Wagner initially announced the first Bayreuth Festival, at which for the first time the ''Ring'' cycle was presented complete, for 1873,{{sfn|Spotts|1994|p=40}} but since Ludwig had declined to finance the project, the start of building was delayed and the proposed date for the festival was deferred. To raise funds for the construction, "[[International Association of Wagner Societies|Wagner societies]]" were formed in several cities,{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 392–393}} and Wagner began touring Germany conducting concerts.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=409–418}} By the spring of 1873, only a third of the required funds had been raised; further pleas to Ludwig were initially ignored, but early in 1874, with the project on the verge of collapse, the King relented and provided a loan.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=45–46}}{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|pp=418–419}}{{refn|In 1873, the King awarded Wagner the [[Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art]]; Wagner was enraged that, at the same time, the honour had been given also to Brahms.{{sfnp|Körner|1984|loc=326}}|group=n}} The full building programme included the family home, "[[Wahnfried]]", into which Wagner, with Cosima and the children, moved from their temporary accommodation on 18 April 1874.{{sfn|Marek|1981|p=156}}{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=419}} The theatre was completed in 1875, and the festival was scheduled for the following year. Commenting on the struggle to finish the building, Wagner remarked to Cosima: "Each stone is red with my blood and yours."<ref>Cited in {{harvnb|Spotts|1994|p=54}}</ref>

[[File:Festspielhaus Bayreuth 1900.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A building stands beyond a part-ploughed field and a row of trees. It has five sections. Farthest away, the tallest part with a v-shaped roof contains the stage. Adjoining it is the auditorium section built of patterned brick. Nearest is the royal entrance, made of stone and brick with arched windows and a portico. Two wings adjoin the auditorium.|The [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]]: [[photochrom]] print of {{circa|1895}}]]
For the design of the Festspielhaus, Wagner appropriated some of the ideas of his former colleague, Gottfried Semper, which he had previously solicited for a proposed new opera house in Munich.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|p=40}} Wagner was responsible for several theatrical innovations at Bayreuth; these include darkening the auditorium during performances, and placing the orchestra in a pit out of view of the audience.{{sfn|Spotts|1994|p=11}}

The Festspielhaus finally opened on 13 August 1876 with ''Das Rheingold'', at last taking its place as the first evening of the complete ''Ring'' cycle; the 1876 [[Bayreuth Festival]] therefore saw the premiere of the complete cycle, performed as a sequence as the composer had intended.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=287}} The 1876 Festival consisted of three full ''Ring'' cycles (under the baton of [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]]).{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=61–62}} At the end, critical reactions ranged between that of the Norwegian composer [[Edvard Grieg]], who thought the work "divinely composed", and that of the French newspaper {{lang|fr|[[Le Figaro]]}}, which called the music "the dream of a lunatic".{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=71–72}} The disillusioned included Wagner's (then) friend [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], who, having published his eulogistic essay "Richard Wagner in Bayreuth" before the festival as part of his ''[[Untimely Meditations]]'', was bitterly disappointed by what he saw as Wagner's pandering to increasingly exclusivist German nationalism; his breach with Wagner began at this time.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 517–539}} The festival firmly established Wagner as an artist of European, and indeed world, importance: attendees included [[Kaiser Wilhelm I]], the Emperor [[Pedro II of Brazil]], [[Anton Bruckner]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]].{{sfn|Spotts|1994|pp=66–67}}

Wagner was far from satisfied with the Festival; Cosima recorded that months later his attitude towards the productions was "Never again, never again!"{{sfn|Cosima Wagner|1994|p=270}} Moreover, the festival finished with a deficit of about 150,000 marks.<ref>{{harvnb|Newman|1976|loc=IV, p. 542}} This was equivalent at the time to about $37,500.</ref> The expenses of Bayreuth and of Wahnfried meant that Wagner still sought further sources of income by conducting or taking on commissions such as the ''Centennial March'' for America, for which he received $5,000.{{sfn|Gregor-Dellin|1983|p=422}}{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, p. 475}}

=== Last years (1876–1883) ===
Following the first Bayreuth Festival, Wagner began work on ''[[Parsifal]]'', his final opera. The composition took four years, much of which Wagner spent in Italy for health reasons.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=18}} From 1876 to 1878 Wagner also embarked on the last of his documented emotional liaisons, this time with [[Judith Gautier]], whom he had met at the 1876 Festival.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 605–607}} Wagner was also much troubled by problems of financing ''Parsifal'', and by the prospect of the work being performed by other theatres than Bayreuth. He was once again assisted by the liberality of King Ludwig, but was still forced by his personal financial situation in 1877 to sell the rights of several of his unpublished works (including the ''Siegfried Idyll'') to the publisher [[Schott Music|Schott]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 607–610}}

[[File:WahnfriedBayreuth11.JPG|thumb|right|The Wagner grave in the Wahnfried garden; in 1977 Cosima's ashes were placed alongside Wagner's body.|alt=Several floral tributes are laid on a flat gravestone that is in the middle of a large bed full of low leafy plants. A crazy-paved path passes either side of the bed.]]
Wagner wrote several articles in his later years, often on political topics, and often [[reactionary]] in tone, repudiating some of his earlier, more liberal, views. These include {{ill|"Religion and Art"|de|Religion und Kunst}} (1880) and "Heroism and Christianity" (1881), which were printed in the journal ''[[Bayreuther Blätter]]'', published by his supporter [[Hans von Wolzogen]].<ref>{{harvnb|Millington|2001a|pp=331–332, 409}} The later essays and articles are reprinted in {{harvnb|Wagner|1995e}}.</ref> Wagner's sudden interest in Christianity at this period, which infuses ''Parsifal'', was contemporary with his increasing alignment with [[German nationalism]], and required on his part, and the part of his associates, "the rewriting of some recent Wagnerian history", so as to represent, for example, the ''Ring'' as a work reflecting Christian ideals.{{sfn|Stanley|2008|pp=154–156}} Many of these later articles, including "What is German?" (1878, but based on a draft written in the 1860s),{{sfn|Wagner|1995a|pp=149–170}} repeated Wagner's antisemitic preoccupations.

Wagner completed ''Parsifal'' in January 1882, and a second Bayreuth Festival was held for the new opera, which premiered on 26 May.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=19}} Wagner was by this time extremely ill, having suffered a series of increasingly severe [[angina]] attacks.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=414–417}} During the sixteenth and final performance of ''Parsifal'' on 29 August, he entered the pit unseen during act 3, took the baton from conductor [[Hermann Levi]], and led the performance to its conclusion.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, p. 692}}

After the festival, the Wagner family journeyed to [[Venice]] for the winter. Wagner died of a heart attack at the age of 69 on 13 February 1883 at [[Ca' Vendramin Calergi]], a 16th-century [[palazzo]] on the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]].{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 697, 711–712}} The legend that the attack was prompted by an argument with Cosima over Wagner's supposedly amorous interest in the singer [[Carrie Pringle]], who had been a Flower-maiden in ''Parsifal'' at Bayreuth, is without credible evidence.{{sfn|Cormack|2005|pp=21–25}} After a funerary [[gondola]] bore Wagner's remains over the Grand Canal, his body was taken to Germany where it was buried in the garden of the Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth.{{sfn|Newman|1976|loc=IV, pp. 714–716}}