Composer of the Week - Richard Wagner - Uprising

As his opera Rienzi is removed from the opera programme in Dresden, Richard Wagner takes to the streets and political storm clouds gather. Donald Macleod explores why Wagner shared the revolutionary spirit of 1830s Germany with its political, social, artistic and moral changes. Plus the almost nuclear force of the revolution Wagner detonated on the entire history of tonal music with his astonishing Tristan chord.