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Richard Wagner

German composer (1813–1883)

  • Fame86.9
  • Momentum3.8
  • Global rank#145
Source-basedStable
  • Fame86.9
  • Momentum3.8
  • Global rank#145
  • Germany rank#8
  • Musicians rank#34
  • Wikipedia137K
Lived 1813–1883, aged 70Germany
Germany flagGermanyCH flagIT flagAT flagMusiciansSinger / Musician
  • Wikipedia
    165 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Global rank
    #145
    Fame.am leaderboard
  • Era
    1813–1883
    Aged 70
  • Known for
    Casino
    1995
Summary
Updated 2026-08-13

Wagner wrote both the music and the words for his operas, then built his own theatre to stage them exactly as he imagined. The result reshaped what opera could be — and what it still argues about.

Biography

About

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig in 1813 and started in the Romantic opera tradition of Weber and Meyerbeer. Between 1849 and 1852 he published essays outlining his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk — the "total work of art" — which sought to fuse poetry, music, drama, and visual design into a continuous sung narrative, with music growing organically from the text rather than toggling between arias and recitatives. He realised the idea most fully in Der Ring des Nibelungen, a four-opera cycle built on leitmotifs and extreme chromaticism; Tristan und Isolde pushed harmonic language so fa…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner
said
Attack and defence, want and war, victory and defeat, lordship and thraldom, all sealed with the seal of blood: this from henceforth is the History of Man.
— Part II
Richard Wagner
said
Certain things in Mozart will and can never be excelled.
— 26 February 1878
Richard Wagner
said
I am writing Parsifal only for my wife — if I had to depend on the German spirit, I should have nothing more to say.
— 2 December 1877
Richard Wagner
said
This is Alberich's dream come true — Nibelheim, world dominion, activity, work, everywhere the oppressive feeling of steam and fog.
— 25 May 1877, quoting Richard's impressions of London
Richard Wagner
said
The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression (the Drama) has been made a means.
— Opera and Drama (1851)
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Press play

Listen & Watch

Spotify
Deep cuts

Albums

Low confidence
  • Mozart/Brahms: Clarinet Quintets / Wagner: Adagio
    1988
  • Overtures and Preludes
    1988
  • Die Walküre · Querschnitt = Highlights = Extraits = Brani Scelti
    1988
  • Borodin: Polovtsian Dances / Glinka: Russian and Ludmilla Overture / Hummel: Trumpet Concerto / Wagner: Overture to Tannhaüser
    1988
  • Scenes from Tristan und Isolde / Tannhäuser / Der Fliegende Holländer / Götterdämmerung
    1988
  • Die Walküre: Act I, Scene 3 / Ride of the Valkyries / Siegfried Idyll / Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod
    1987
  • Ouvertüren & Vorspiele
    1987
  • Overtures
    1987
By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
86.9
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum3.8
Historical28.9
Now attention25.1
Source confidence70.0
Completeness80.0
Global rank
#145
Country rank
#8
Category rank
#34
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence