The Flying Dutchman – Composer Richard Wagner

In the pantheon of operatic composer, Richard Wagner, with his over the top and unyielding scores, stands in his own spotlight. With The Flying Dutchman, one of Wagner’s most celebrated pieces, set to open at the Blaisdell this Friday, we’ve compiled a short list detailing a few lesser-known facts about Wagner. 

Despite being one of the most recognizable composers in history, as a child, Wagner didn’t show an early affinity for music. He was reportedly the only one of his siblings to not take piano lessons as a child. However, by the time he became a teenager, the prodigy inside him emerged and he wrote his first musical play, “Leubald” when he was only 13.

If you think you’ve never heard Wagner’s work, think again. With his demanding style, Wagner’s work has been used and referenced in pop culture time and again. Perhaps the most commonly referenced piece is Flight of the Valkyrie, which was used in the infamous helicopter attack scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.

Following Wagner’s death, his wife, Cosima, attempted to collect as many copies of his controversial autobiography as she could get her hands on and burn them. Why would a widow burn his late husband’s autobiography? In classic Wagner style, the work was littered in controversial and, no pun intended, inflammatory comments.