Wieland Wagner

Wieland Wagner (5 January 1917 – 17 October 1966) was a German opera director. Wieland was the elder of two sons of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner and grandson of composer Richard Wagner. In 1941, he married the dancer and choreographer Gertrude Reissinger. They had four children Iris (b. 1942), Wolf-Siegfried (b. 1943), Nike (b. 1945) and Daphne (b. 1946). Late in his life, Wieland had a love affair with the much younger Anja Silja, one of the s... more

Wieland Wagner (5 January 1917 – 17 October 1966) was a German opera director. Wieland was the elder of two sons of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner and grandson of composer Richard Wagner. In 1941, he married the dancer and choreographer Gertrude Reissinger. They had four children Iris (b. 1942), Wolf-Siegfried (b. 1943), Nike (b. 1945) and Daphne (b. 1946). Late in his life, Wieland had a love affair with the much younger Anja Silja, one of the singers he had recruited for Bayreuth. In 1965, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite. He died of lung cancer in October 1966. Wieland Wagner is credited as an initiator of Regietheater through ushering in a new modern style to Wagnerian opera as a stage director and designer, substituting a symbolic for a naturalist staging and focusing on the psychology of the drama. Wieland began his directorial career before World War II, working on operas by his father and grandfather. His innovative approach did not become clear until after the war. His... less