The New International Encyclopædia/Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen

RIENZI,. An opera in five acts, text and music by Richard Wagner, first produced at Dresden, October 20, 1842. The libretto is founded upon Bulwer's novel of the same title, whose story it follows in the essential particulars. It is the last of Wagner's works in the purely operatic style, for thereafter, in the Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and the Ring, Wagner adhered more and more rigidly to his music-drama principles. The music is characterized by melody, and a series of dramatic climaxes whose treatment is reminiscent of the Meyerbeer school.