Richard Wagner · aftercurtain

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Das Liebesverbot

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1836

Governor Friedrich enforces strict moral laws in Palermo, sentencing Claudio to death for an amorous indiscretion. Claudio’s sister Isabella pleads for his release, but Friedrich demands her body in exchange. Isabella arranges a masked meeting with Friedrich and substitutes her friend Marianne, whom Friedrich had previously betrayed. After the governor is exposed, Claudio is freed and Friedrich asks the returning King to judge him. Claudio explains that death need not be the penalty for a love offence, and the town celebrates Carnival.

Das Rheingold

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1869

Alberich steals the Rhinegold after renouncing love and forges a ring that grants power. Wotan and Loge travel to Nibelheim, seize Alberich’s hoard, and take the ring to pay the giants who built Valhalla and hold Freia hostage. Alberich curses the ring. Warned by Erda, Wotan gives it to the giants; Fafner kills Fasolt over the treasure. The gods enter Valhalla, while the Rhinemaidens mourn the loss of their gold.

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1876

Alberich steals Rhine gold and forges a ring that grants world-dominating power. Wotan takes the ring to pay the giants for building Valhalla, setting off a multigenerational struggle to control it. Siegfried wins the ring but is betrayed and killed by Hagen. Brünnhilde returns the ring to the Rhine and dies on Siegfried’s pyre; fire destroys Valhalla, and the Rhinemaidens drown Hagen as they reclaim the gold.

Die Feen

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1888

Ada, a half-fairy, gives up immortality to live with Arindal, but the fairy king sets a condition: she must keep her identity secret for eight years, then torment Arindal on the final day. When she appears to destroy their children and betray his kingdom, Arindal curses her. The curse turns Ada to stone and drives Arindal toward madness. He journeys through guarded portals with a sword, shield, and lyre, ultimately freeing Ada by playing the lyre. The fairy king grants Arindal immortality, and he and Ada rule the fairyland while Arindal’s mortal kingdom passes to Lora and Morald.

Die Hochzeit

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1832

Ada is to marry Arindal in a political rather than romantic match. On the eve of the wedding, her lover Cadolt visits her. Ada rejects his advances to defend her honour but pushes him from a balcony, killing him. She still loves Cadolt and collapses and dies at his funeral beside his body.

Die Laune des Verliebten

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1830

The source describes the project as based on Goethe’s play Die Laune des Verliebten, but it provides no plot for Wagner’s abandoned opera project.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1868

In sixteenth-century Nuremberg, young knight Walther von Stolzing falls in love with Eva Pogner, whose father has promised her to the winner of the mastersingers’ song contest. Walther fails to qualify, but Hans Sachs recognizes his talent and helps him shape a new song. Beckmesser mistakenly takes the song for Sachs’s, then fails in the contest; Walther sings it successfully and wins Eva. Sachs blesses the couple and celebrates the mastersingers’ art.

Die Sieger

Writer · Opera · 1856

In Wagner’s fragmentary prose sketch, the outcast Prakriti loves the monk Ānanda. Though ostracized by the other monks, they are permitted a chaste union by Buddha, and Prakriti joins the monastic community.

Die Walküre

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1870

Siegmund seeks shelter in Hunding’s house and discovers that Hunding’s wife Sieglinde is his twin sister. They fall in love, and Siegmund draws the sword Nothung from an ash tree. Wotan orders Brünnhilde to protect Siegmund, but Fricka demands punishment for the twins’ union; Wotan reverses his command, and Siegmund dies in battle. Brünnhilde helps the pregnant Sieglinde escape with the sword fragments. Wotan punishes Brünnhilde by placing her in a fire-ringed sleep, where only a fearless hero can reach her.

Götterdämmerung

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1876

Hagen manipulates Siegfried and the Gibichungs to gain the cursed ring. A potion makes Siegfried forget Brünnhilde, and he helps Gunther claim her; Brünnhilde later joins Hagen and Gunther in plotting against him. Hagen kills Siegfried, then kills Gunther while fighting for the ring. Brünnhilde recognizes Siegfried’s innocence, returns the ring to the Rhine, and rides into his funeral pyre. The fire destroys the Gibichung hall and Valhalla; the Rhinemaidens reclaim the ring and drown Hagen.

Lohengrin

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1850

In Brabant, Elsa is accused of murdering her brother. A mysterious knight arrives by swan-drawn boat, defeats her accuser and agrees to marry her on the condition that she never ask his name or origin. Ortrud and Telramund undermine Elsa’s trust, and she eventually asks the forbidden questions. The knight reveals himself as Lohengrin, a Knight of the Grail, and must leave; he restores Elsa’s brother Gottfried from swan form, and Elsa dies as he departs.

Männerlist größer als Frauenlist

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1838

Jeweller Julius Wander poses as an aristocrat and is tricked into promising to marry Aurora, daughter of Baron von Abendthau. He recognizes the bear-keeper Gregor as his father, and discovers that the dancing bear is his brother Richard in a bearskin. After Wander reveals his parentage, the baron rejects him, freeing him to marry Leontine.

Parsifal

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1882

Parsifal, a youth ignorant of his past, enters the realm of the Grail knights after killing a swan. He witnesses the suffering of their king Amfortas, whose wound came from the stolen Holy Spear. In Klingsor’s enchanted garden, Kundry’s kiss awakens Parsifal’s understanding of Amfortas’s pain; he resists her seduction, retrieves the Spear and returns years later. Parsifal heals Amfortas, becomes the Grail king and redeems Kundry.

Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1842

Patricians attempt to kidnap Rienzi’s sister Irene, but Rienzi stops them and rallies the Roman people, who make him their tribune. Adriano, son of patrician Stefano Colonna, loves Irene. The nobles plot against Rienzi, who survives an attempted stabbing and grants them mercy at Adriano’s request. When the nobles raise an army, Rienzi leads the people to victory, and Stefano is killed. The Church later excommunicates Rienzi and his associates. Irene stays with him, despite Adriano’s plea that she flee. The crowd turns against Rienzi and attacks the Capitol. As it burns, Rienzi, Irene, and Adriano are killed.

Siegfried

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1876

Mime raises Siegfried, who reforges Nothung and learns from the Wanderer that only one who knows no fear can repair it. Siegfried kills Fafner and Mime, takes the ring and Tarnhelm, and follows a woodbird to Brünnhilde. The Wanderer’s spear is broken, and Siegfried crosses the fire surrounding Brünnhilde’s rock. He awakens her, and they join in love.

Tannhäuser

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1845

Tannhäuser leaves Venus’s grotto after invoking Mary and returns to the Wartburg, where he reunites with Elisabeth and competes in a song contest. He reveals his time with Venus and is exiled on a pilgrimage to Rome. The Pope denies him absolution, so he returns seeking Venus. Wolfram calls out Elisabeth’s name, and her funeral procession arrives. Tannhäuser dies beside her, while returning pilgrims bear the Pope’s staff, now sprouting leaves.

The Flying Dutchman

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1843

A storm drives Norwegian captain Daland ashore, where he meets the cursed Flying Dutchman, condemned to sail until a faithful woman redeems him. Daland agrees to the Dutchman’s marriage to his daughter Senta in exchange for treasure. Senta, who has long been fascinated by the Dutchman’s story, pledges fidelity. When the Dutchman believes her former lover Erik has won her back, he departs; Senta throws herself into the sea and her sacrifice frees him.

Tristan und Isolde

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1865

Isolde, promised to King Marke, travels to Cornwall under Tristan’s escort. She and Tristan drink what they believe is a death potion, but it is a love potion, and they confess their passion. Marke discovers them together; Tristan is wounded in a fight and taken to his castle in Brittany. Isolde arrives as Tristan dies. Marke comes to unite the lovers, but Isolde sings of Tristan’s transfiguration and dies beside him.

Wagner Dream

Source play · Opera · 2007

As Richard Wagner dies in Venice, he recalls Die Sieger, an opera sketch he never completed. The recalled story follows the outcast Prakriti’s love for the monk Ānanda; Buddha permits their union and welcomes Prakriti into the monastic community.

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