NICE IS WHAT SOMEONE LIKES No.15/17.07

Jul 17, 2025
4 min read

Lots of notes and banknotes

This event is one of the most well-known and snobbish music events of the summer. It starts in open-air this week, on July 24^th. I don't advise you to look for tickets now. Even tickets for next year would be sold out. More so because next year Wagner's Bayreuth Festival will celebrate its 150^th anniversary. It's a very special summer meeting of strong personalities and complicated stories, lots of notes and banknotes.

Wagner was never an easy person, during and after his life too. It is not easy to admire a person who admires himself 'über alles' (above all else) and doesn't allow any objection. But that's the kind of man he was throughout his life. Two centuries later, the legacy goes on. Nothing is easy in this story, and in his music too.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is a great composer. He and his followers considered him a genius. He was to open a new era in opera, supposed to break the dominance of Italian opera, to create a form of musical drama based on ancient Germanic legends. No more romantic bel canto, opera buffa, Rossini's 'talkativeness'. Nothing new. A century earlier, Mozart tried to break the monopoly of Italians by composing 'singspiel' (sing-play) 'The Abduction from The Seraglio' with German texts.

An artist's sanctuary

At Wagner's time, King Ludwig II ruled Bavaria. Despite wars and poverty, the King built a series of awesome castles. Also, as a passionate admirer of Wagner, the King financed his dreams, sometimes extremely exuberant. These included expensive productions of his operas and finally, the desire to establish a temple for his music during his life.

Initially, the Bavarian capital Munich was considered. Later, the King suggested Bayreuth. There is still a beautiful Baroque Opera there built in the mid-18^th century. It was a wedding gift for the Duchess Wilhelmina, fiancée of the Margrave of Bavaria. She was a lover of opera and sister of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.

The place was quiet. Nothing would compete with Wagnerian events. The first person to be delighted was Wagner's wife, Cosima. She was the only daughter of Franz Liszt, legendary pianist and Wagner's supporter. (Cosima was Hans von Bülow's ex-wife. He was a composer and, before, Wagner's best friend.) But Wagner refused the existing settlement: 'The theater is so rich and beautiful that it will distract the audience.'

'They need to focus on my music only!'

In the end, he agreed to build a new theatre house there, according to his idea, for his art only. Easier said than done. Wagner appealed to all Germans to support his idea as the German Reich (State) Composer. He wrote to and even visited Chancellor Bismarck to no avail, though. All financing channels, including concert tours, were used. Finally, Ludwig II granted him 100,000 thalers. The theatre was ready in 1876 instead of 1873. The composer's problems were solved. The royal's not at all.

Art can be a good investment, but for ages

The Bavarian budget collapsed under the deficit, not only because of Wagner's dreams. It seems an exaggeration to say that it was the only reason for the monarch's supposedly suicidal death at dawn in the coastal waves.

The paradox is that today's Bavaria is a very rich part of Germany. One of the sources of its wealth is tourism. Crowds of people come to see the fairy-tale castles of King Ludwig's dreams. They also visit the unique 'Wagner Temple'. And limited tickets are very expensive.

NB. Just like Salzburg in Austria: Mozart was born there almost 270 years ago. Thanks to him, the small and once poor city got not only fame but also great profits, not only to its residents but to the whole country, as Mozart Festivals and thousands of gadgets, including tasty round Mozart chocolate candy.

Nice is not what is nice but what someone likes

Coming back to Richard the Great. The composer has admirers to this day. Followers too. His operas are performed all over the world. There are crowds at the Bayreuth Festivals. But he had bad luck too. Among his admirers in the 20^th century was also Adolf Hitler. So Wagner was included, as it were, posthumously in the Nazi party. This stigmatized his music for years after WWII, up to 1951 when the Festival was restarted, but the first chords were from Beethoven's 9^th Symphony, whose final theme became the Anthem of the European Union (Ode to Joy).

He could compete with Italian opera but not win. In 1813, Italian great opera composer Giuseppe Verdi was born, in the same year as Wagner. Verdi and, somehow, his successors, like Giacomo Puccini, made sure that Italian opera remained at the top. And competition started from the beginning.

Exchanging of pleasantries

Senior Maestro Rossini described Wagner's work this way:

'He has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour. One can't judge Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don't intend to hear it a second time.'

Wagner did not remain indebted to him, asking:

After Rossini dies, who will be there to promote his music?

The fears of both turned out to be unfounded. The works of both of them fill opera houses around the world to this day.

Enough words.

Let us play: R. Wagner - Bridal Chorus from Opera 'Lohengrin'

I dedicate it to my dear friends Patricia & Viktor, who are going to marry soon!

🎵 https://youtu.be/J2lX86w-pT4?si=oLkSHywFAMTtNx1N

Written by

Cezary Owerkowicz

Co-founder of Kuwait Music Academy and

Director of Treasure of Talents Festival in Kuwait