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Siegfried Wagner

 

 
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Siegfried Wagner
 
 
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Siegfried Wagner was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard WagnerRichard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for hi...
 and Cosima LisztCosima Wagner

Cosima Francesca Gaetana Wagner was the daughter of the virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt....
 and the grandson of Franz LisztFranz Liszt

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer....
. He was a very productive operaOpera Summary

Opera is a dramatic art form, originating in Italy, in which the emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to ...
 composer, composing more operas than his father. In 1896 he started conducting at the Bayreuth FestspielhausBayreuth Festspielhaus

...
 and around Germany. Siegfried was the artistic director of the Bayreuth FestivalBayreuth Festival Summary

The annual Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, Germany is devoted principally to performances of operas by the 19th century Germa...
 from 1908 to 1930. Though his works are numerous, none has entered the standard repertory.

WorkWork of art

In fine art, a work of art is a creation, such as a song, book, sculpture or a painting, that has been made in order to be a...
s of Siegfried Wagner

Operas

(all in three acts; all with libretto by the composer)

  1. Der Bärenhäuter (1898; premiered Munich 1899)
  2. Herzog Wildfang (1900; premiered Munich 1901)
  3. Der Kobold (1903; premiered Hamburg 1904)
  4. Bruder Lustig (1904; premiered Hamburg 1905)
  5. Sternengebot (1906; premiered Hamburg 1908)
  6. Banadietrich (1909; premiered Karlsruhe 1910)
  7. Schwarzschwanenreich (1910; premiered Karlsruhe 1918)
  8. Sonnenflammen (1912; premiered Darmstadt 1918)
  9. Der Heidenkönig (1913; premiered Cologne 1933)
  10. Der Friedensengel (1914; premiered Karlsruhe 1926)
  11. An allem ist Hütchen schuld! (1915; premiered Stuttgart 1917)
  12. Das Liebesopfer (1917, libretto only; revised version under title Wernhart, 1929)
  13. Der Schmied von Marienburg (1920; premiered Rostock 1923)
  14. Rainulf und Adelasia (1922; premiered Rostock 1923)
  15. Die heilige Linde (1927; premiered Cologne 2001)
  16. Wahnopfer (1928; orchestration unfinished)
  17. Walamund (1928-29; not orchestrated)
  18. Das Flüchlein, das Jeder mitbekam (1929; not orchestrated by composer apart from the Overture; orchestration by Hans Peter Mohr for 1984 premiere in Kiel)

Sexuality

Siegfried Wagner was bisexual and, although married, was sexually active with other men throughout his life. For years, he fought off the increasingly desperate urgings of his mother, Cosima, to marry and have children, to give the Wagner Dynasty some heirs. Around 1913, he was coming ever closer to a public outingOuting

While outing often refers to an outdoor excursion, in the late twentieth century, the term acquired an additional meaning, t...
 by the journalist Maximilian HardenMaximilian Harden

Maximilian Harden was an influential German journalist who published the journal Die Zukunft, at the beginning of the 20...
, who had outed the closest friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II, with problematic repercussions for Kaiser and friend. Siegfried was no longer able to avoid marriage. A woman of prime child-bearing age was found for the bachelor, who was 28 years her senior. In an arranged meeting in 1914 at the Bayreuth Festival, the then-45-year-old Siegfried was introduced to the 17-year-old Winifred KlindworthWinifred Wagner

Winifred Wagner was an Englishwoman who married Richard Wagner's son....
. On 22 September 1915 they married and it was hoped (in vain) that the marriage would not only end Siegfried's homosexual encounters and the associated costly scandals, but also provide an heir to take charge of the music festival. The couple had four offspring:-

  1. WielandWieland Wagner

    Wieland Wagner was one of two sons of Siegfried Wagner and grandson of composer Richard Wagner....
     (1917-1966)
  2. FriedlindeFriedlinde Wagner

    Friedlinde Wagner was the daughter of German opera composer Siegfried Wagner and his English wife, Winifred Williams and the...
     (1918-1991)
  3. WolfgangWolfgang Wagner

    Wolfgang Wagner is the director of the Bayreuth Festival, a position he assumed alongside his brother Wieland in 1951....
     (born 1919)
  4. Verena (born 1920)


One of Siegfried's biographers alleged that Siegfried had sired an illegitimate son. No evidence was supplied for either the son or any extramarital female relationships. The only evidence of the son is the assertion of the biographer. Despite the evidence of Siegfried's active homosexuality and the lack of any evidence of heterosexual activity before 1914, several authors have taken up the story of the illegitimate son.

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