This is a list of biographical films featuring the composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), either as a central or significant character.
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. He described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Bayreuth is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of Upper Franconia and has a population of 72,148 (2015). It hosts the annual Bayreuth Festival, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented.
Karl Klindworth was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, violinist and music publisher. He was one of Franz Liszt's pupils and later one of his closest disciples and friends, being also on friendly terms with composer Richard Wagner, of whom he was an admirer. He was highly praised by fellow musicians, including Wagner himself and Edward Dannreuther. Among his pupils were Hans von Bülow, Georgy Catoire, and Ethelbert Nevin.
Francesca Gaetana Cosima Wagner was the daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt and Franco-German romantic author Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of the German composer Richard Wagner, and with him founded the Bayreuth Festival as a showcase for his stage works; after his death she devoted the rest of her life to the promotion of his music and philosophy. Commentators have recognised Cosima as the principal inspiration for Wagner's later works, particularly Parsifal.
Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930.
Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, especially Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms. Alongside Carl Tausig, Bülow was perhaps the most prominent of the early students of the Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and conductor Franz Liszt; he gave the first public performance of Liszt's Sonata in B minor in 1857. He became acquainted with, fell in love with and eventually married Liszt's daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner. Noted for his interpretation of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, he was one of the earliest European musicians to tour the United States.
Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.
Nike Wagner is a German dramaturge, arts administrator and author. She directed the festival Kunstfest Weimar, and has been the director of the Beethovenfest from 2014. The daughter of Wieland Wagner, she is a great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, and a great-great‑granddaughter of Franz Liszt. She devoted books to the Wagner family and its cultural and political influence.
Song Without End, subtitled The Story of Franz Liszt, is a 1960 biographical film romance about Franz Liszt made by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by Charles Vidor, who died during the shooting of the film and was replaced by George Cukor. The film stars Dirk Bogarde, Capucine, and Geneviève Page.
Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz in 1770.
Ida Marie Lipsius, alias La Mara, was a German writer and music historian.
Magic Fire is a 1955 American biographical film about the life of composer Richard Wagner, released by Republic Pictures.
Wahnfried was the name given by Richard Wagner to his villa in Bayreuth. The name is a German compound of Wahn and Fried(e).
Otto Singer was a German musician also active in the USA. He is best known for his piano transcriptions of orchestral works, include symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
Ludwig II is a 1955 West German historical drama film directed by Helmut Käutner and starring O.W. Fischer, Ruth Leuwerik and Marianne Koch. It is based on the life of the nineteenth century ruler Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The film was shot in technicolor at the Bavaria Studios in Munich with sets designed by the art director Hein Heckroth and Fritz Lück. Location shooting took place at the historic residences of Ludwig II Herrenchiemsee, Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle.
Wahnfried is a 1986 West German-French drama film directed by Peter Patzak about the life of Richard Wagner. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
Detlev Eisinger is a German pianist.
This article lists the various treatments given by Franz Liszt to the works of almost 100 other composers.
The composer Ludwig van Beethoven has been the subject of a number of biographical films.