Rienzi

Quick Facts

• Grand opera in five acts written between 1838-40
• Full title of the opera: Rienzi: The Last of the Roman Tribunes
• Based on Rienzi, The Last of the Tribunes by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)
• Premiered in 1842 at the Dresden Hofoper
  • Fun fact – the premiere lasted over 6 hours (!)

About the Piece

• Cola di Rienzo was a 14th-century Italian popular leader who attempted to “restore” his homeland to the greatness of Ancient Rome, even going so far as to appoint himself “tribune.”¹
• Wagner completed his grand opera in the home of the genre – Paris. Meyerbeer, who had made a name for himself through his grand operas, was an early supporter of the composer and the work.
  • Years later, Wagner would come to resent Meyerbeer’s role in Wagner’s early career in a particularly ugly and anti-Semitic attack on the composer and fellow Jewish musicians (Das Judenthum in der Musik).²
• Rienzi was an inarguable success at its premiere, though it has since fallen into relative obscurity and is rarely performed today (with the exception of the overture). One reason for this is that Wagner considered it one of his “immature operas” and didn’t wish to promote his early works.³

Synopsis of the opera

1. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Cola Di Rienzo,” Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), accessed June 12, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cola-di-Rienzo.
2. Barry Millington, John Deathridge, Carl Dahlhaus, and Robert Bailey, “Wagner, (Wilhelm) Richard,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed June 12, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278269.
3. Herbert Glass, “Rienzi Overture,” Hollywood Bowl, accessed June 12, 2023, https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/3075/rienzi-overture.