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The Geographical Review July 1998, Vol. 88 (3), pp. 327-348 FANTASY, GEOGRAPHY, WAGNER, AND OPERA ROLF STERNBERG ABSTRACT: Wilhelm Richard Wagner fused fantasy based on epic and lore with seamless scores, using landscapes and urban images to forge spatial order on stage. As a footloose composer-conductor, Wagner was considered a globetrotter for his time, and from trans-European tours he drew inspiration for numerous stagings. Nine of his operas have rustic pastoral settings, with actors silhouetted against geological formations, forests, vistas of undulating terrain for pilgrimages, or raging seas, all visually believable scenery. Rienzi and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg are urban in setting, whereas Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot are set in a castle-like format. Keywords: aesthetics, lndscape, opera, Wilhelm Richard Wagner DR. STERNBERG is a professor of geography at Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey 07043-1624.