Bayreuth Festival Revives Hitler's Favorite Opera, 'Rienzi'

Richard Wagner's opera "Rienzi," a work Adolf Hitler cherished and received as a gift on his 50th birthday, has returned to the Bayreuth Festival after a 150-year hiatus. Hitler reportedly kept the composer's manuscript in his private collection until his final days, attributing his life's path to the opera's profound impact on him during a 1906 or 1907 performance.

Despite Wagner's own reservations about "Rienzi," which he completed in his late twenties while seeking fame, he initially admired its protagonist. Wagner described Rienzi as a "hero in the truest sense of the word; a passionate dreamer, who appears like a lightning flash in a declining world, believing that his appearance will allow him to rise and shine."

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Rienzi, whom I invented and portrayed – is a hero in the truest sense of the word; a passionate dreamer, who appears like a lightning flash in a declining world, believing that his appearance will allow him to rise and shine.

The opera draws from the life of Cola Rienzi, a 14th-century Roman notary. Rienzi was granted power by citizens weary of feuding noble families, promising a better future. However, his initial success waned as he faced accusations of incompetence and leniency towards former enemies, partly due to an obligatory romantic subplot involving his sister and a young Orsini. His rapid rise was matched by an equally swift fall.

This narrative of an outsider who establishes a new order captivated Hitler. The opera's music, at times bombastic yet powerfully supportive of Rienzi's fiery speeches and actions, reflects a "new spirit" that was desired and anticipated. In the 14th century, such figures were called tribunes of the people; today, they are known as populists, capable of captivating crowds.

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And then it began.