Wagner in London
24 September 2007 - 6 January 2008
The Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library
The Royal Opera House production of Richard Wagner's complete Ring Cycle is expected to be one of this year's greatest cultural highlights. To coincide with these performances, the British Library pays homage to the celebrated composer in a small exhibition, Wagner in London.
Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen) represents a pinnacle of European creativity, where music, theatre, the visual arts, literature, mythology, religion and philosophy unite to form the Gesamtkunstwerk - the total work of art. Tying in with performances of three complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Royal Opera House, Wagner in London will draw on the British Library's collections of manuscripts, playbills, programmes, sound recordings, newspapers, theatre designs, and correspondence, to illustrate the Wagner performing tradition in London, from the composer's own visits in 1855 and 1877 to the first Covent Garden performance of the Ring Cycle, conducted by Gustav Mahler, in 1892.
Correspondence on display ranges from one of Wagner's earliest surviving letters, in which the 18-year-old student offers his services as a music arranger to the prominent German publishing firm, Peters (1831) to the famous letter written to Baron Fredinand von Bielenfeld (1849) in which he outlines his belief in the interdependence of poetry and music, making music drama the highest form of art - a philosophy that was at the heart of his conception of the Gesamtkunstwerk (the total work of art).
The exhibition pays special attention to the composer's visits to London and English influences on his work. Wagner first visited London in 1855, his performances receiving mixed reviews in the media. An unflattering caricature in The London Figaro is displayed alongside Vanity Fair's portrait of Wagner entitled 'The Music of the Future'. His iconoclastic approach was not universally appreciated, as evidenced by a Musical World review of a Philharmonic Society concert stating, "We hold that Richard Wagner is not a musician at all."
A utograph manuscripts on display include Wagner's rarely performed arrangement of Rule Britannia and a selection of early works, including Das Liebesverbot and The Flying Dutchman. Playbills and promotional material from the first performances of the Ring at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1882, and the Covent Garden performances, 1898 will also be displayed.
Rupert Ridgewell, Curator of Music at the British Library, commented:
"The Royal Opera House performances of Wagner's Ring Cycle provide a wonderful opportunity for us to present collection items relating to the composer, particularly focusing on his visits to London in 1855 and 1877 and the perception of his music as radical, reflected in the mixed reception he received at that time in the press. The exhibition spans more than 60 years tracing Wagner's development as a composer and the beginnings of a performing tradition for his music in London , notably the pioneering early stagings of the complete Ring Cycle at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1882 and Covent Garden in 1892."
The Library will be hosting a series of six talks on Wagner's legacy on consecutive Mondays at 6.30pm from 24 September until 29 October 2007.
For further information or images, contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk
Notes for Editors
Wagner in London will be displayed in The Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library from 24 September 2007. Admission is free.
A series of talks given by leading Wagner specialists and music writers accompanies this display. In association with the Royal Opera House.
All talks 18.30 - 20.00 in the British Library Conference Centre.
Tickets £6 (concessions £4) per talk. Book full series at the discounted price of £30 (concessions £20). Discount only available by calling +44 (0)1937 546546
Monday 24 September
Wagner and Popular Art
Tom Philips
Monday 1 October
Wagner and Film
Mike Ashman
Monday 8 October
Wagner and London
Rupert Christansen
Monday 15 October
Wagner and Philosophy
Mark Berry
Monday 22 October
Wagner and Mythological Sources
John Deathridge
Monday 29 October
Wagner and the Wagners
Jonathan Carr
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