Wagner’s retelling of the Middle Ages through the lens of nineteenth romanticism. This opera is based on two sources: one is about a knight looking for love in all the wrong places, and the other is the 13th century Wartburg Sängerkrieg, a story about a battle of songs taking place in the castle of Wartburg in Thuringen, Germany.
The work is from 1845, but was never really finished. Wagner was never happy with it, even though it was performed several times during his life. As a result of his rewritings there are at least three different versions, called after the cities where they were performed: Dresden, Paris and Vienna.
The overture of this opera is perhaps the most famous part, and is also used separately as an orchestral piece for concerts. Should you ever get the chance of going to any Wagner opera, I can wholeheartedly recommend it: with even the best Italian opera I got bored after a while, but not so with Wagner.