Rienzi in April/May 2009 and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Oper Leipzig in April/May 2010. In July 2013, the bicentennial year of Wagner's birth, performances of all three of Wagner's early operas, including "Rienzi", took place for the first time at Bayreuth, at the Oberfrankenhalle. This performance trimmed some parts, including the second-act ballet. The Australian premiere was a concert performance by Melbourne Opera in December 2013, as part of the bicentennial celebrations. The opera opens with a substantial overture which begins with a trumpet call (which in act 3 we learn is the war call of the Colonna family)
Overture in C, "In Memoriam" alone can bring." The overture enjoyed considerable popularity in the composer's own lifetime, but it was rarely heard in the 20th century. Only two recordings were made before 1992. Since that time, however, the piece has been recorded several more times. The composition is structured as a single multi-tempo movement marked "Andante religioso - Allegro molto" and lasts around eleven to twelve minutes in performance. The critic Andrew Lamb writes that, although the composer described the overture as an outpouring of grief, The piece's dark, slow texture has its main theme in the major key, as seen here in its