Even though a discussion of Wagner's life is not normally required for an analysis of the influence and spread of his works, it is nonetheless necessary to examine his relationship with the Baltic world. This is particularly important as Wagner's travels had an impact on the reception of his works. It is by no means a coincidence that Riga, where he lived from 1837 to 1839, was later to become a leading center for the performance of his works (see figure 1.1).

Wagner's own travels reflect the fact that the Baltic world was a potential working environment for many German artists in the nineteenth century. Since the seventeenth century, artists had made extended visits to East Prussia and to the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire, Estonia, Livonia, and Courland. German actors and musicians planned their tours to include the Baltic provinces, sometimes returning via Finland and Sweden, thus encompassing the whole of the Baltic Sea. Riga, St. Petersburg, and Stockholm formed a triangle whose wealthy population had attracted troupes of traveling players since the seventeenth century.

Besides touring, performing artists also found long-term employment in the region. The role of the Germans became conspicuous in Estonia, Livonia, and Courland, the area of present-day Estonia and Latvia, where the German minority played a prominent role in the nineteenth century. But the contacts made by German musicians were not limited to the areas where the Baltic Germans lived; their influence extended around the Baltic Sea and to Finland and Sweden. For example, Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801), composer of the opera Gustaf Wasa (later hailed as a Swedish national opera), moved from Dresden to Stockholm at the invitation of the king of Sweden. Similarly, Fredrik Pacius (1809–91), who became known as the father of Finnish music, was born in Hamburg, and Richard Faltin (1835–1918), one of the leading figures of Finnish Wagnerism and also a German, was born in Danzig, which is today the city of Gdansk in Poland. Franz Thomé, who conducted the first performance of Tannhäuser in Riga, came from Graz, Austria, in 1853. And Friedrich Brenner (1815–98), who worked as a teacher of music and organist at the University of Tartu, was a native of Eisleben.