Description
Book SynopsisRichard Wagner is one of the influential and also the polarizing composers in the history of music. Over the course of his long career, he produced a stream of spellbinding works that challenged musical convention through their experimentation, paving the way for modernism. This title offers an overview of Wagners life, work and times.
Trade Review'An excellent book … lavishly illustrated, with photographs and portraits of the leading participants in Wagner’s astounding life … this book should be on every budding Wagnerian’s shelves' - Opera Now
'The Wagner book of the bicentenary … sumptuous … If you only read one book about Wagner, make it this one … Puts the great man into context and perspective, and this is a wonderfully readable book about a musical genius. Simply fantastic' - Books Monthly
'A balanced and beautifully illustrated compendium of life and works, written in Millington’s easy-to-read style' - Financial Times (Best Books of 2012)
'Exemplary lucidity whether outlining an opera plot or musical structure, unravelling a complex philosophical argument or adjudicating a contentious socio-political issue' - Opera
'The most readable of books, engagingly presented and beautifully produced - with striking illustrations on good paper that make it a pleasure to turn the pages' - Ham & High
Table of Contents1. Father of the Man: Paternity and Childhood • 2. Learning the Craft: Youthful Apprenticeship • 3. Earning his Keep: First Professional Appointments • 4. Under the Yoke: Kapellmeister in Dresden • 5. The Eternal Wanderer: Der fliegende Holländer • 6. Desperately Seeking Venus: Tannhäuser • 7. Swansong to Traditional Opera: Lohengrin • 8. Revolutionary Road: Uprising in Dresden • 9. The Zurich Years: Wagner’s Exile in Switzerland • 10. The Rise and Fall of Valhalla: Der Ring des Nibelungen • 11. ‘Most Excellent Friend': Franz Liszt • 12. Muses, Mistresses and Mother-Figures: Wagner’s Women • 13. The Behemoth of Bayreuth: Wagner’s Personality • 14. Always Short: Wagner and Money • 15. In the Pink: The Role of Silks and Satins in Wagner’s Life • 16. ‘My Adored and Angelic Friend’: Ludwig II • 17. Fatal Attraction: Tristan und Isolde • 18. ‘Art is What Matters Here’: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg • 19. Grit in the Oyster: Anti-Semitism in Wagner’s Life and Work • 20. Creative Spark: Sources of Inspiration in Wagner’s Work • 21. The Silent Sufferer: Cosima Wagner • 22. Tribschen Interlude: The Lucerne Years • 23. A Home for the Gods: The Bayreuth Project • 24. Wagner’s Last Card: Parsifal • 25. Death in Venice: The Events of Wagner’s Last Days • 26. Perfect and Imperfect Wagnerites: The Spread of the Wagner Cult • 27. Panning for Gold: Wagner and Cinema • 28. Swastikas Over Bayreuth: Wagner and the Third Reich • 29. Regime Change: The Grandsons Usher In the Era of New Bayreuth • 30. Renewing the Legacy: Bayreuth Today and in the Future • Family Tree
