Wagner on the run

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1848, an arrest warrant was issued for a 35-year-old composer named Richard Wagner. It read, “The Royal Kapellmeister Richard Wagner of Dresden is to be seized for interrogation concerning his participation in the revolutionary activities that took place in this city. All police authorities are requested to capture Wagner and report to us as quickly as possible.”

In 1848, uprising against Europe’s royal families led to failed revolutions in many states. In Dresden, Wagner had published an article that envisioned the end of the aristocracy. When the uprising was put down by Saxon troops, that same aristocracy came looking for him. Luckily, the warrant’s description was pretty vague: “Wagner is of medium height, has brown hair and wears eyeglasses." The composer wasn’t yet so famous that people would recognize him at sight, and with the financial assistance of his friend and future father-in-law Franz Liszt, Wagner escaped to Switzerland.

In exile, Wagner wrote pamphlets with titles like "Art and Revolution" and "The Artwork of the Future." He finished the orchestration of his new opera “Lohengrin” and sketched out an ambitious project called "The Ring of the Nibelung," a projected series of interconnected operas based on old German legends.

Meanwhile, back in Germany, Liszt conducted the premiere of “Lohengrin” in Weimar in 1850, but Wagner didn’t risk showing up to hear it. But time, and increasing international fame, heals all wounds, even political ones, and in 1862, Wagner was granted full amnesty.

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) The Flying Dutchman Overture Berlin State Orchestra; Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec 88063

Richard Wagner Act I Prelude, from Lohengrin Berlin Philharmonic; Daniel Barenboim, cond. Teldec 81791

On This Day

Births

• 1931 - American composer Donald James Martino, in Plainfield, N.J.;

Deaths

• 1910 - Russian composer Mily Balakirev (Gregorian date: May 29);

Premieres

• 1726 - Handel: opera "Alessandro" (Julian date: May 5);

• 1889 - Massenet: opera "Esclarmonde" at the Paris Opéra;

• 1948 - Quincy Porter: Viola Concerto, in New York City;

• 1948 - Wallingford Rieger: Symphony No. 3, in New York City;

• 1966 - Ralph Shapey: "Rituals," in Chicago;

• 1966 - Villa-Lobos: Sinfonia No. 9, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting;

• 1969 - Cage: "HPSCHD," for amplified harpsichord and 51 tapes, in Urbana, Ill.;

• 1971 - Britten: opera "Owen Wingrave," as a telecast on BBC-TV in England and NET (National Educational Television) in the United States;

• 1972 - Jaocb Druckman: "Windows" for orchestra, by the Chicago Symphony; This work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1972;

• 1974 - Bernstein: ballet "Dybbuk," by the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, with choreography by Jerome Robbins and the composer conducting;

• 1991 - Joan Tower: "Concerto for Orchestra," by the St. Louis Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting;

Others

• 1792 - The Teatro la Fenice ("The Phoenix") opens in Venice;

• 1888 - Emile Berliner gives the first public display of his invention, the flat gramophone disk, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.