Other main roles were played by Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Craven, Marthe Keller, Ronald Pickup, Miguel Herz-Kestranek and László Gálffi.

It was filmed in many authentic locations including King Ludwig II's castle of Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee, and the Residenz in Munich.

"[4] "An absolute bulls-eye... wonderful... technically brilliant.. musically and filmically on the highest level... it will surely set out on a triumphant procession around the world.

"[5] "A monumental film... a complete work of art... truly visionary..."[6] "A remarkable event... hardly a minute too long... a British Film of glory... takes the screen by storm... a big spirited work"[7] In America, when a much truncated version just over 4 hours was shown on PBS, The New York Times in an atypical review described the show as "pretentious kitsch" and a "colossal disaster".

Although his wife, Minna, enjoys their life and status, Wagner is bored with his work for the ageing king and spends most of his time writing revolutionary pamphlets against the establishment and aristocracy.

In Bordeaux, Wagner meets a wealthy Scottish emigree, Mrs. Taylor, who agrees to become a patron of his, although he has a brief affair with her married daughter, Jessie Laussot [ru].

In Zürich he meets up with his good friend Franz Liszt, who arranges to perform Wagner's operas in Germany during his exile.

In the 1850s, Wagner's health deteriorates and he has to be cured in a sanatorium, where he reads Arthur Schopenhauer's work Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung.

Wagner, who starts composing Tristan und Isolde for Mathilde, is also visited by his good friend Hans von Bülow, and his new bride Cosima, Liszt's daughter.

Moreover, shortly before the performance, Wagner has a dispute with the Jewish composer Giacomo Meyerbeer about his anti-semitic essay Das Judenthum in der Musik.

While looking for financiers for the Ring and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, he meets the influential critic Eduard Hanslick in Vienna.

Destitute, Wagner tries to hide but is eventually found by Pfistermeister, personal secretary to the new King of Bavaria, who is desperate to meet him.

After moving to Munich in 1864, Wagner enjoys a prosperous time under the patronage of the young King of Bavaria, Ludwig II.

The premiere of Tristan und Isolde has to be postponed when the lead actress Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld falls ill but finally happens a few months later.

In the 1870s, construction on the opera house in Bayreuth begins and the epic Der Ring des Nibelungen can finally be premiered.

The opening August 1876 performance is attended by Ludwig who is slowly losing his mind, while living in his gigantic new castle Neuschwanstein.