Rienzi friend Apel, who had likely first made the suggestion that Wagner compose "Rienzi", mentions a plan to perform the overture to "Rienzi" "a fortnight hence", but contains a clear indication that her husband had just been committed to a debtors' prison. The full score of "Rienzi" was completed on 19 November 1840. In 1841 Wagner moved to Meudon, just outside Paris, where the debt laws could be more easily evaded, whilst awaiting developments for "Rienzi", having already written to King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, requesting that he order a production of the work in Dresden. With the support of
1812 Overture 1812 Overture The Year 1812 Solemn Overture, festival overture in E major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture, is a concert overture written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate the successful Russian defence against Napoleon's invading Grande Armée in 1812. The overture debuted in Moscow on August 20, 1882, conducted by Ippolit Al'tani under a tent near the then-unfinished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which also memorialized the 1812 defence of Russia. The overture was conducted by Tchaikovsky himself in 1891 at the dedication of Carnegie Hall, in what was one of the first