Composer of the Week

Donald Macleod introduces Richard Wagner, a composer whose name instantly ignites controversy like no other - a composer whose life was every bit as much of a titanic saga as the epic music dramas he invented. Wagner was a young firebrand of twenty-two when he made his debut as an opera composer with Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love), and the premiere was a fiasco with fights on stage even before the curtain rose. His opera Rienzi was much more successful, catching the revolutionary spirit of the time and putting Wagner's name on the map.