Rienzi the German Empire and making it great once more." The original performance version of "Rienzi" was lost in the Dresden bombing of 1945, and the manuscript (on which it had been based) was lost in Berlin in 1945. No full copies had been made of either version, as far as is known. However, "Rienzi" was never established by the composer into a finalized version, so all performances of it since 1945 have been reconstructions. A vocal score of the early 1840s, based on Wagner's draft, remains as the only existing primary source. Two surviving full scores made in Dresden in
Pique Dame (Suppé) a rushing brilliant coda brings the overture to a happy conclusion. The "Pique Dame" overture was often heard in cinemas during the era of the silent film when deluxe screenings were preceded by an overture or other concert piece played by a live orchestra. The film music director and composer Hugo Riesenfeld listed it as one of the ten most frequently performed pieces of music in movie theaters of the era. D. W. Griffith's 1914 film "Judith of Bethulia" had a complete live sound track specified by Griffiths himself in which the "Pique Dame" overture, played in its entirety, opened