Richard Wagner and Weber's "Euryanthe"

Abstract

Wagner's relationship to the operatic world of his predecessors is a topic that requires ongoing re-evaluation as our own age comes to a better understanding of the early nineteenth century. Of course, none of us will ever match the command of operatic literature that Wagner had mastered by a very tender age, and for that reason we can probably never comprehend the totality of his relationships to the past. We can, however, work toward this goal by considering the importance of particular works for Wagner, a procedure justified by the fact that Wagner's own understanding of operatic practice was shaped in the first instance by his knowledge of individual works. The present study, an investigation of Wagner's relationship to Weber's Euryanthe, seeks in particular to explore the ways in which Weber's work might have influenced Wagner's own operas. That Euryanthe, despite its reputation as one of the major disappointments of nineteenth-century opera, was an important work for Wagner has long been recognized, and claims of its influence on him can be traced