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Musical picnic in honor of Weber and Wagner

Musical picnic in honor of Weber and Wagner
The Richard Wagner Sites in Graupa are hosting a musical picnic this Sunday to honor the composers Richard Wagner and Carl Maria von Weber (archive photo). / Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
Both once worked as court conductors in Dresden and are still revered in the city on the Elbe today: Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. Now there is a "Wiesn" for the composers in Graupa.

Forests and nature are anything but a footnote in the work of composers Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. In works such as Weber's "Freischütz" and Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", nature is more than just a backdrop.

This is another reason why both masters will be paid homage to in the open air on the "Weber-Wagner-Wiese" in Graupa this Sunday. The musical picnic is designed as a family festival and celebrates Wagner on his 213th birthday this year (22 May) and Weber on his 240th birthday (18 November), the organizers announced.

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Birds of prey, lead balls and a short version of "Rheingold"

In order to pick up on the important theme of hunting in "Freischütz", a bird of prey show will be offered twice on the meadow. For children, there will be craft activities and the opportunity to cast bullets together with a blacksmith - another reminiscence of "Der Freischütz".

The afternoon will be rounded off culturally by primary school pupils and the Richard Wagner Choir from Graupa and the opera class from the Dresden Academy of Music with a one-hour short version of Wagner's "Rheingold". The cultural significance of the forest in the opera will be explained during a "Freischütz".

Special exhibition "No Wagner without Weber?"

The party is in the courtyard of the Graupa hunting lodge, where the Wagner sites reside. They are considered to be the world's oldest museum-used residence of the composer. In 1846, he spent his summer vacation at the Schäfer estate, now the Lohengrin House, and created the musical sketches for his opera "Lohengrin". Wagner was court conductor in Dresden from 1843 to 1849, Weber from 1817 to 1826. There has been a permanent exhibition on Wagner in the hunting lodge since 2013. The special exhibition "Without Weber, no Wagner?"

Weber was a role model for Wagner. During his time in Dresden, he also campaigned for the repatriation of Weber's remains, who had died in London in 1826. Wagner composed funeral music for Weber's new burial, which took place in December 1844 at the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden, and also delivered the eulogy.

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