Stories of the Wagner Opera — Text and Context

Compositional Context and Creative Decisions

Guerber pays close attention to the circumstances under which each opera was written. For Rienzi, she reports that Wagner began the poem and first two acts in 1838 during his residence in Riga, carried the score to Boulogne, and completed it at Meudon before forwarding it to Dresden in 1841. The account of The Nibelung's Ring includes Wagner's own words on his creative process: 'When I tried to dramatise the most important moment of the mythos of the Nibelungen in Siegfried's Tod, I found it necessary to indicate a vast number of antecedent facts.' Guerber traces how this led to the writing of Siegfried, then Die Walküre and Das Rheingold, showing the expansion of the cycle. She also notes the political troubles of 1849 that resulted in Wagner's banishment and his subsequent naturalisation in Zurich, where he turned his full attention to the Ring.

Tensions Between History and Legend

A recurring pattern in the excerpts is Wagner's deliberation between historical and legendary subjects. Guerber writes that after Tannhäuser, 'for the last time the conflicting claims of History and Legend presented themselves.' Wagner studied the story of Barbarossa but discarded it in favour of the Nibelungen Myths. This tension is visible in the book's structure: the first opera covered, Rienzi, is historical (founded on the same basis as Bulwer's novel), while later works like The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin draw from legend. Guerber's own text reflects this shift, with the historical Rienzi summary emphasising political context and the legendary summaries focusing on mythic elements such as the Rhine Maidens and the enchanted garden in Parsifal.

Reception and the Role of Patronage

Guerber frequently documents how Wagner's works were received and the role of influential figures. For Rienzi, she notes that Meyerbeer called it 'the best opera-book extant' and gave Wagner introductions in Paris, yet the opera found no success in France. It was only through friends in Dresden—the tenor Tichatscheck and chorus-master Fisher—that it was produced. The third representation, conducted by Wagner, made him 'the hero of the day,' but this triumph 'was reviewed with envy by the admirers of the Italian school of music.' In The Master-Singers of Nuremberg, the character Hans Sachs is described as 'a general favourite among his townsmen,' and the crowd hails him with 'Hail Sachs! Hans Sachs! Hail Nuremberg's darling Sachs!'—a moment that mirrors Wagner's own desire for popular acclaim. Guerber's emphasis on these dynamics suggests that the book is as much about Wagner's career as about the operas themselves.

Guerber's Stories of the Wagner Opera is best approached as a companion that situates each opera within Wagner's biography and creative evolution. The summaries are concise, but the contextual details—the failed Parisian hopes, the banishment, the gradual expansion of the Ring cycle—offer a portrait of an artist persistently negotiating between ambition and circumstance. Readers interested in the operas' plots will find clear outlines; those curious about Wagner's development will discover a narrative of struggle and adaptation.

Guerber’s old sketches always made me feel Wagner’s longing for a story that sings true, history bending into legend. There, in Tristan and Isolda, that same ache finds its purest voice—a night that refuses the day’s demands. I have kept them side by side for years, two quiet companions whispering the same endless ache. Tristan and Isolda: Opera in Three Acts — Context and Discussion holds that hush well.