Johanna Wagner
also Johanna Jachmann-Wagner, Johanna Jachmann
Birthplace: Lohnde, near Hannover, Kingdom of Hanover (now part of Seelze)
Richard Wagner's niece by adoption, and the first Elisabeth. The illegitimate daughter of the singer Lisette Gollmann, she was adopted and trained by Wagner's eldest brother Albert. Dresden engaged her in 1844 and she created Elisabeth the year after, before eleven years at Berlin from 1850. A dispute over a London engagement in 1852 produced Lumley v Wagner and Lumley v Gye, landmarks still of English contract and tort law. She lost her singing voice in 1861, turned to spoken tragedy, and returned to opera at Bayreuth in 1876 as Schwertleite and the First Norn.
Creations
- Elisabeth — Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (Dresden, 1845)
Written from
- Wikipedia (2026) Johanna Jachmann-Wagner. (Accessed: August 2026). The English article.
- Wikipedia (2026) Johanna Wagner. (Accessed: August 2026). The German article.
- Forbes, E. (1992) 'Wagner: (2) Johanna Wagner [Jachmann-Wagner]', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 1084.