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The epitome of "Grand Opera"? Siegfried's body is carried back to Brünnhilde (his wife and aunt), who arranged for his murder after being given a nasty potion and who . . . etc. in the vast 19th cent soap opera, 'Gotterdammerung' - opera no. 4 of The Ring.

The influence of Richard Wagner on Ludwig cannot be over-emphasised. One of the greatest composers of the 19th century inspired Ludwig's tastes so fully that he devoted his reign to the master's works. Indeed, if it weren't for Ludwig most of Wagner's later operas may never have come about.

Tristan

Even since Ludwig heard Lohengrin for the first time, he worshipped Wagner. When Wagner was brought to Munich at the start of Ludwig's reign, the young King set about arranging for Wagner's "unproducable" opera Tristan Und Isolde to have it's premier in Munich as soon as possible. After many delays Tristan was first performed in the Court Theatre, Munich on 10 June, 1865. Many of the letters written to Wagner by Ludwig survive and show us the reverence the King held for the composer -

"My heart's rapture gives me no peace . . . nearer and nearer draws the happy day - Tristan will arise! We must break through the barriers of custom, shatter the laws of the base world. The ideal must come to life! We shall march forward conscious of victory. My loved one, I shall never forsake you! Oh, Tristan, Tristan will come to me! The dreams of my boyhood and youth will be made real . . . "

(Tristan is now referred to by some writers as one of the greatest works of art ever produced.)

Meistersinger

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was the next Wagner opera with which Ludwig devoted himself to. Completed while Wagner lived at Tribschen, the villa beside Lake Lucerne in Switzerland that Ludwig provided for him, this huge work was first performed in Munich on 21 June, 1868. This, Wagner's only comedy, is the longest opera regularly performed, running up to a total of five hours, depending on how it is conducted. During the premier performance, Ludwig invited Wagner to sit at his side during the final act, and encouraged the composer to acknowledge the applause of the audience from there. (Considered by most Müncheners a gross breach of etiquette.)

'A new art form'

But it was Wagner's masterpiece that Ludwig spent the most time and money on. Der Ring des Nibelungen, or The Ring is a work of monumental scale. Comprising four operas, it can run up to twenty hours. In fact it has been so influential that images from it are used in popular culture to convey the word 'opera'. (ie. Large-busted women in horned helmets and shields shrieking at the top of their lungs.) Perhaps it can be said that if Ludwig had not provided Wagner with the help that he did, The Ring would never have been written or produced. As the composing of The Ring was coming to it's completion, Wagner devised a plan to have a special theatre built expressly for the purpose of performing his four-part opera cycle. A festival would be held where his great work would be performed over several days, becoming the epitome of opera as an art-form. When the time came to raise money for this grandiose scheme, funds were dramatically short. Ludwig came to Wagner's rescue as usual, providing a massive loan to the master. The Festival Theatre was completed in Bayreath, which is in Bavaria, and to this day it is the scene of the world's largest Wagner festival every summer.

Ludwig's obsession

Why was Ludwig so obsessed by Wagner and his works? When Wagner was forced out of Bavaria by the politicians, Ludwig even contemplated abdicating so that he could join his friend in Switzerland. Wagner wisely convinced Ludwig to stay on the throne - Ludwig was of no use to him if he were not in power. Perhaps it was because Wagner brought to life the great German legends that Ludwig loved so much. Ever since the early days at Hohenschwangau, Ludwig had been obsessed with the ancient legends from medieval Germany. Wagner's works made Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, the Norse gods, the noble Tristan and lastly the Grail-knight, Parsifal, real.

At Neuschwanstein, Wagner is everywhere. At Linderhof he surfaces in the grotto. When Ludwig's possessions were sorted out after his death, a Lohengrin costume was discovered in a trunk. Servants had spoken to the commission investigating his sanity about his dressing up as Lohengrin in the middle of the night.

When Ludwig received the news that Wagner had died in Venice on February 13, 1883, he cried out "Let me be alone", and according to legend, stamped his foot so heavily with grief that a floorboard broke. When he read of the entire world's grief, Ludwig commented, "It was I who was the first to recognise the artist whom the whole world mourns; and it was I who saved him for the world."

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