The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

1913 DramaHistory Directed by Carl Froelich

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About The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

Giuseppe Becce plays Wagner from childhood. At eight the boy plays for his dying stepfather. At sixteen he studies with cantor Weinlig, then drifts. In 1834 he turns down the conductor's post at Lauchstädt until he meets the actress Minna Planer and takes it. He marries her in 1836 at Königsberg, they fight over his spending, and they make it up. Rienzi succeeds at Dresden in 1842 and he is made conductor of the opera at thirty. He furnishes a house he cannot pay for. The Flying Dutchman fails, Tannhäuser falls, the creditors close in, and he is dismissed.

Cast & crew

More about The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

Oskar Messter produced the biography for the 1913 centenary of Wagner's birth. Carl Froelich and William Wauer directed. Wauer wrote the scenario. Froelich was also the cameraman. Silent Era gives the German release as 31 May 1913, at about seven reels and 2,055 meters. Klaw & Erlanger released a four-reel version in the United States on 20 November 1913.

Themes

  • A conductor who takes a job for a love affair
  • Debts after a successful opera
  • Rienzi's triumph and the Dutchman's failure
  • Richard Wagner
  • Minna Planer
  • Rienzi
  • Flying Dutchman
  • Tannhäuser
  • Dresden
  • Lauchstädt

Background

The film was sold as a centenary picture. Wagner was born in 1813. The Moving Picture World synopsis used in the United States stops at the Dresden dismissal, before the years of exile the German cast list still includes.

Making

Messter's company staged the life as a costume feature while feature-length films were still new in Germany. Becce, a composer, was put in the leading part and then wrote the music that accompanied his own image.

Look

Carl Froelich photographed the costume scenes. He shares the direction credit with Wauer.

Music

Giuseppe Becce arranged the score for the 1913 premiere, mixing compiled music with his own and with Wagner. A 1983 score is credited to Armin Brunner. Bernd Schultheis prepared Becce's music for a later digital restoration.

Preservation

A restored digital version has been scored from Becce's music. An Internet Archive copy uses the English release title.

Notes

  • Becce plays Wagner and also arranged the score played at the premiere.
  • Manny Ziener plays Minna Planer. Olga Engl plays Cosima. Miriam Horwitz plays Mathilde Wesendonck. Ernst Reicher plays King Ludwig II.
  • William Wauer and Hermann Seldeneck are also in the cast. Max Maximilian appears.
  • Filmportal lists later scores by Armin Brunner (1983) and, for a digital restoration, Bernd Schultheis working from Becce.
  • The German title used in the trade is Richard Wagner.

Scenes

  • The boy plays at the bedside of his dying stepfather.
  • He refuses Lauchstädt, meets Minna Planer, and takes the post.
  • After Rienzi he is court conductor. After The Flying Dutchman and Tannhäuser he is dismissed and the creditors are at the door.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (silent-the-life-and-works-of-richard-wagner)