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Richard Wagner. Sa vie, son oeuvre, son siècle
«Fu il genio del secolo e lo scandalo del secolo» e proprio per questo era fatale che venisse, sia in vita sia, soprattutto, dopo la sua scomparsa - non capito, frainteso volutamente, strumentalizzato, arruolato sotto le bandiere più diverse, catalogato di volta in volta com «rivoluzionario» o come «musicante di Stato»; come sommo artista o come astuto amministratore della sua opera. A cent'anni della sua morte, avvenuta il 13 febbraio 1883 a Venezia, la figura e l'opera di Richard Wagner sono ancora al centro di un acceso dibattito. Idolatrato da alcuni, detestato da altri, il creatore dell'Anello del Nibelungo è stato in ogni caso uno dei fenomeni più importanti dell'Ottocento, e non solo per la sua straordinaria attività di musicista, ma anche per i suoi scritti teorici, la sua vita pubblica e privata, i suoi rapporti con il mondo e con la storia. D'altra parte, le sfaccettature della sua personalità erano così numerose e la sua vita era - almeno apparentemente - così ricca di contraddizioni che la pur sterminata letteratura wagneriana ha preferito sino a oggi approfondire di volta in volta un singolo elemento piuttosto che tentare di ricostruire nella sua completezza la figura di Richard Wagner. A tale grave lacuna rimedia ora questo libro di Martin Gregor-Dellin, costato quindici anni di lavoro e ormai a buon diritto considerato un «classico», che si propone di fare, una volta per tutte, giustizia dei «miti» wagneriani, sia nei loro aspetti positivi che in quelli negativi. Gregor-Dellin, infatti, interpreta Wagner - uomo e artista - attraverso il tempo in cui visse, seguendone l'evoluzione sin dall'infanzia, l'esperienza rivoluzionaria del 1848, i diversi viaggi e soggiorni, via via sino alla fondazione del Reich e alla sua morte a Venezia. Grazie a un minuzioso lavoro di ricerca e soprattutto alla consultazione dei diari di Cosima Wagner (di cui è stato curatore), Gregor-Dellin ricostruisce nei minimi particolari la vita e l'attività artistica del grande musicista tedesco e l'unità di vita e opera viene spiegata come il risultato di un dramma personale che è nello stesso tempo il dramma di quel secolo. Una vita straordinaria, irripetibile, nella quale - accanto a Wagner - si muovono personaggi eccezionali: Meyerbeer, Heine, Nietzsche, Herweg, Luigi II di Baviera, Bismarck, Bakunin, Liszt, Hans von Bülow, Minna Planer (la prima moglie), Mathilde Wesendonck, Cosima von Bülow (figlia di Liszt e sua ultima compagna). Imponente per la quantità di documentazione, grande affresco storico, affascinante per la novità delle tesi esposte, appassionante come un romanzo, questa biografia ci rivela il dramma dell'esistenza di Richard Wagner, la sua opera e insieme la sua epoca.
916 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 13, 2025
One hell of a biography and, interestingly, one hell of a history book!
As people who follow me already know, I started spending more time with music, not least because I started learning to play the cello. One thing that entailed was reading up on the truly big names amongst the composers / artists. Richard Wagner is such a big name.
There is a lot of stuff that is being said about Richard Wagner due to the Nazis absolutely loving Norse mythology and thus his Ring cycle (4 operas about the gold of the Nibelung and the events leading to a version of Ragnarok). What's important to know, though, is that Wagner died 6 years before Adolf Hitler was even born. So no, Wagner was not a Nazi. He might not even have been antisemitic but more on that later.
Wagner was born on 22nd May 1813 in Leipzig (Eastern Germany) as the 9th child of a local administrative actuary and a baker's daughter. Wagner's father died of typhus (after the Battle of Leipzig) when he was only half a year old.
Not long after, Wagner's mother married a portrait painter/poet who was also a family friend. This man, Ludwig Geyer, happens to have been Jewish and a great (positive) influence on Wagner's life. In fact, Richard adored the man. With him, the family moved to Dresden in 1814. However, in 1821, Geyer died as well.
Wagner was subsequently passed on to various family members, his step-uncle among them. Another patron was his blood-uncle who happens to have been an acquaintance of Goethe's. When his family moved to Prague because one of his older sisters was hired at the theater there in 1826, young Wagner was left in Dresden and started immersing himself in Shakespeare and Homer to an extent that he started translating several of the works (yes, aged 13). He also seems to have been fond of Goethe, Schiller and E.T.A. Hoffman (the author of The Nutcracker).
This was around the time when Wagner fell in love with music so he started studying harmonics amongst other things in 1828 and 1829.
Wagner was 16 when he first saw an opera by Beethoven, which left him determined to become a musician. So he composed a few piano sonatas, overtures and string quartets.
In 1830, he had violin lessons and gained a certain financial security by working for his brother-in-law, the publisher Brockhaus, which gave him enough time to also write his first political pamphlets.
I should mention, at this point, that this was a VERY tumultuous time, politically. There was Napoleon with his campaigns and wars, there were several skirmishes and wars within what would later become Germany, then there was the unification that actually birthed what we now call Germany, but only after they did away with the smaller kingdoms etc.
As of 1831, Wagner studied music at the university in Leipzig. During this time, some of his compositions were performed and well liked.
In 1833, Wagner traveled to Würzburg to visit his brother, who worked there and helped Wagner get the job of choirmaster and choir coach, which also meant Wagner had to fill in for actors and extras and compose pieces for the theater. And yet, he still lived off his sister's money.
In 1834, Wagner went back to Leipzig, where he broke up with two girls he had been involved with. Two years later, in March 1836, he went to Magdeburg for the premier of his opera Das Liebesverbot which was pretty much cursed.
In November the same year, he went to Königsburg via Berlin in order to marry Minna Planer, an actress at the local theater whom he had madly fallen in love with.
The following year, in 1837, he became Königsberg's Director of Music. However, a few months later, the theater went bankrupt so he was out of a job again. Accepting a new job and in order to escape numerous creditors, he and his wife moved to Riga in Letland. Another month after, his wife left him for a businessman - though she did return shortly after.
To make a long story short, they were definitely NOT made for each other, both had various affairs, she was hysterical (no, not just called that because she was a woman, she was actually prone to making a scene, screeching, overreacting, fits of jealousy and more), and he wasn't really much better. Plus, the constant financial pressures because Wagner kept borrowing left and right and never paying anyone back didn't help.
It's a mark of Wagner's character that the people who loved and helped him the most were the ones he treated the worst. He seems to have been incapable of actually showing appreciation/gratefulness. Meanwhile, he loved styling himself the center of a romantic drama/opera. In his head, it seems to have been romantic. In reality, it and he ruined a number of families (amazing how many women fell for the guy).
Another constant: Wagner seems to have been cursed with bad luck but more often than not, he also stood in his own way, resulting in Wagner always complaining and whining and ... probably sniffling.
And then there was the afore-mentioned politics, the fraternities with their political activism for whom Wagner even organized weapons, his falling out with various heads of state like the king of Saxony.
All these elements were combined in his works, none more so that Der fliegende Holländer , a story about finding redemption through love, which he premiered in 1843. Too bad he couldn't learn from his own mistakes in real life. *lol*
In 1845, Wagner wrote and premiered his next romantic opera, Tannhäuser . Since it wasn't the hit he had hoped, Wagner revised it in 1846 and 1847. In the end, there were three versions.
So up until this point (we're in about 1850 now and Wagner is living in Zurich, on and off), there is not a hint of anti-semitism, on the contrary. Which is why Wagner's declaration in the essay Das Judenthum in der Musik was like a bomb dropped in the middle of a busy marketplace. But that is also typical Wagner: one minute he liked people like Mendelssohn, the next minute he cursed their names to the wind over perceived slights (he was a proverbial diva, basically).
Four years later, Schopenhauer was recommended to Wagner - another mistake if you ask me. *lol* Although it has to be acknowledged that it triggered Wagner working on Tristan and Isolde (but I'm glad Wagner didn't employ the same kind of pessimism Schopenhauer's philosophy is famous for).
Another important contact and influence on Wagner was an equally if not even more popular composer: Franz Liszt. Wagner was - unsurprisingly - in love with Liszt's daughter, Cosima, too. And no, her getting married was not the end of it. *rolls eyes*
Wagner also lived in Lucern, Vienna, Karlsruhe, Brussels, Venice and many other cities, not least because he kept traveling back and forth trying to avoid his creditors and finding employment. Some of the escapes were ... adventurous to say the least (in one case, he and his travel companions had an accident which injured his wife to the extend that she lost the baby she was pregnant with and probably caused her to be infertile).
In 1858, while Wagner still lived in Zurich with friends and worked on Siegfried (part 3 of Der Ring des Nibelungen), his wife uncovered and made public Wagner's affair with his friend/patron's wife (yep, the same friend he lived with), so Wagner left Minna. Though she kept following him for years until 1862 (more on that later).
In 1861, Wagner lived in Paris and revised his Tannhäuser (creating version #2). Version #3 is the so-called Vienna version from 1875.
The following year, Wagner moved again, this time to Biebrich to compose Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for a publisher in order to improve his financial situation once again (though it didn't premier until 1868). It was then that the final break-up with his wife happened. That year, Wagner also premiered one of his operas in Vienna, performing for none other than Empress Elisabeth (Sissi). Yep, he knew one hell of a lot of important people and most of them liked him!
In 1864, Wagner was called to the palace in Munich as he was the newly crowned boy-king's favorite composer. Wagner ended up being the king's adviser, too. The king even dedicated the castle Neuschwanstein to him! That was when Wagner's financial troubles practically disappeared.
The year after, Wagner began dictating his biography to Cosima with whom he was now officially together (they had three children). No, Cosima was not divorced yet (that only happened in 1870) but that doesn't seem to have stopped anyone. Wagner and Cosima married about one month after the divorce.
Around that time, they met Nietzsche and befriended him (he was present when their 3rd child was born).
But now for the juicy bit: THE most famous work Wagner ever wrote / composed has a looong history: Der Ring des Nibelungen . As hinted at before, Wagner had found inspiration here and there, even started writing bits and pieces, but it never came together, it was never right. In 1871, finally, Wagner started writing like a maniac and managed to complete the first part, Das Rheingold in just a few months. The opera was premiered in 1869.
Only a year later, the second part, Die Walküre was premiered. Both, by the way, against Wagner's expressed wishes (he wanted to have all 4 parts premier at the same time, the fourth being Götterdämmerung ).
In 1871, Wagner premiered the entire Der Ring des Nibelungen in Bayreuth (until today one of THE addresses for high-society performances of operas, symphonies and more) while Otto von Bismarck was present.
In 1873, after having placed the cornerstone for the festival opera house that was built in his name, Wagner was seriously ill for the first time (heart, ironically enough).
After having received a medal in 1874 and the festival opera house's construction having been finished in 1875, the first official Bayreuther Festspiele, which showed the entire Der Ring des Nibelungen, were conducted in 1876 under the patronage of Emperor Wilhelm I.
The last work Wagner completed was Parsifal from 1877 until 1879 (he finished it in 1882). Within that time, he traveled to London where he was invited by Queen Victoria of England.
Since the performances of the Ring in Bayreuth was a financial disaster, Wagner even considered fleeing to the US. Since that was not feasible and several friends convinced him it was folly, Wagner instead moved to Italy, which was supposed to also help with his deteriorating health. He lived in several cities, the last of which was Venice (where Liszt lived as well). He died on February 13. A day later, the family accompanied the body back to Bayreuth where Wagner was interred in the crypt of the garden of Villa Wahnfried (his erstwhile home) on February 18.
Yes, this is one hell of a long biography despite me having left out an incredible amount. Wagner's musical life started late compared to other composers and he was a weird one, certainly, prone to outbursts and such. However, what he did end up writing was incredible, especially if you're a fan of Norse mythology, and several of his works are amongst my favorites. He truly is one of the greats and this is only one of two biographies about him that I'll read this month (though the second one's review will likely only contain a few words and a link to this review *lol*).
A note about the author: I have rarely read such a great book. Sure, the events were gripping enough, but it also takes a truly great writer to grip the reader and adequately portray a complex figure like Richard Wagner. Martin Gregor-Dellin is one such writer. This biography was meticulously researched and brilliantly written and I enjoyed every second of it (also because of the writing style itself which might be considered "dated" but I really loved how the author showed what the German language was capable of without appearing bloated). As an added bonus, we get tons of historical context, which is absolutely necessary, nay vital - here, perhaps, even more than in other biographies.
Absolute recommendation!
As people who follow me already know, I started spending more time with music, not least because I started learning to play the cello. One thing that entailed was reading up on the truly big names amongst the composers / artists. Richard Wagner is such a big name.
There is a lot of stuff that is being said about Richard Wagner due to the Nazis absolutely loving Norse mythology and thus his Ring cycle (4 operas about the gold of the Nibelung and the events leading to a version of Ragnarok). What's important to know, though, is that Wagner died 6 years before Adolf Hitler was even born. So no, Wagner was not a Nazi. He might not even have been antisemitic but more on that later.
Wagner was born on 22nd May 1813 in Leipzig (Eastern Germany) as the 9th child of a local administrative actuary and a baker's daughter. Wagner's father died of typhus (after the Battle of Leipzig) when he was only half a year old.
Not long after, Wagner's mother married a portrait painter/poet who was also a family friend. This man, Ludwig Geyer, happens to have been Jewish and a great (positive) influence on Wagner's life. In fact, Richard adored the man. With him, the family moved to Dresden in 1814. However, in 1821, Geyer died as well.
Wagner was subsequently passed on to various family members, his step-uncle among them. Another patron was his blood-uncle who happens to have been an acquaintance of Goethe's. When his family moved to Prague because one of his older sisters was hired at the theater there in 1826, young Wagner was left in Dresden and started immersing himself in Shakespeare and Homer to an extent that he started translating several of the works (yes, aged 13). He also seems to have been fond of Goethe, Schiller and E.T.A. Hoffman (the author of The Nutcracker).
This was around the time when Wagner fell in love with music so he started studying harmonics amongst other things in 1828 and 1829.
Wagner was 16 when he first saw an opera by Beethoven, which left him determined to become a musician. So he composed a few piano sonatas, overtures and string quartets.
In 1830, he had violin lessons and gained a certain financial security by working for his brother-in-law, the publisher Brockhaus, which gave him enough time to also write his first political pamphlets.
I should mention, at this point, that this was a VERY tumultuous time, politically. There was Napoleon with his campaigns and wars, there were several skirmishes and wars within what would later become Germany, then there was the unification that actually birthed what we now call Germany, but only after they did away with the smaller kingdoms etc.
As of 1831, Wagner studied music at the university in Leipzig. During this time, some of his compositions were performed and well liked.
In 1833, Wagner traveled to Würzburg to visit his brother, who worked there and helped Wagner get the job of choirmaster and choir coach, which also meant Wagner had to fill in for actors and extras and compose pieces for the theater. And yet, he still lived off his sister's money.
In 1834, Wagner went back to Leipzig, where he broke up with two girls he had been involved with. Two years later, in March 1836, he went to Magdeburg for the premier of his opera Das Liebesverbot which was pretty much cursed.
In November the same year, he went to Königsburg via Berlin in order to marry Minna Planer, an actress at the local theater whom he had madly fallen in love with.
The following year, in 1837, he became Königsberg's Director of Music. However, a few months later, the theater went bankrupt so he was out of a job again. Accepting a new job and in order to escape numerous creditors, he and his wife moved to Riga in Letland. Another month after, his wife left him for a businessman - though she did return shortly after.
To make a long story short, they were definitely NOT made for each other, both had various affairs, she was hysterical (no, not just called that because she was a woman, she was actually prone to making a scene, screeching, overreacting, fits of jealousy and more), and he wasn't really much better. Plus, the constant financial pressures because Wagner kept borrowing left and right and never paying anyone back didn't help.
It's a mark of Wagner's character that the people who loved and helped him the most were the ones he treated the worst. He seems to have been incapable of actually showing appreciation/gratefulness. Meanwhile, he loved styling himself the center of a romantic drama/opera. In his head, it seems to have been romantic. In reality, it and he ruined a number of families (amazing how many women fell for the guy).
Another constant: Wagner seems to have been cursed with bad luck but more often than not, he also stood in his own way, resulting in Wagner always complaining and whining and ... probably sniffling.
And then there was the afore-mentioned politics, the fraternities with their political activism for whom Wagner even organized weapons, his falling out with various heads of state like the king of Saxony.
All these elements were combined in his works, none more so that Der fliegende Holländer , a story about finding redemption through love, which he premiered in 1843. Too bad he couldn't learn from his own mistakes in real life. *lol*
In 1845, Wagner wrote and premiered his next romantic opera, Tannhäuser . Since it wasn't the hit he had hoped, Wagner revised it in 1846 and 1847. In the end, there were three versions.
So up until this point (we're in about 1850 now and Wagner is living in Zurich, on and off), there is not a hint of anti-semitism, on the contrary. Which is why Wagner's declaration in the essay Das Judenthum in der Musik was like a bomb dropped in the middle of a busy marketplace. But that is also typical Wagner: one minute he liked people like Mendelssohn, the next minute he cursed their names to the wind over perceived slights (he was a proverbial diva, basically).
Four years later, Schopenhauer was recommended to Wagner - another mistake if you ask me. *lol* Although it has to be acknowledged that it triggered Wagner working on Tristan and Isolde (but I'm glad Wagner didn't employ the same kind of pessimism Schopenhauer's philosophy is famous for).
Another important contact and influence on Wagner was an equally if not even more popular composer: Franz Liszt. Wagner was - unsurprisingly - in love with Liszt's daughter, Cosima, too. And no, her getting married was not the end of it. *rolls eyes*
Wagner also lived in Lucern, Vienna, Karlsruhe, Brussels, Venice and many other cities, not least because he kept traveling back and forth trying to avoid his creditors and finding employment. Some of the escapes were ... adventurous to say the least (in one case, he and his travel companions had an accident which injured his wife to the extend that she lost the baby she was pregnant with and probably caused her to be infertile).
In 1858, while Wagner still lived in Zurich with friends and worked on Siegfried (part 3 of Der Ring des Nibelungen), his wife uncovered and made public Wagner's affair with his friend/patron's wife (yep, the same friend he lived with), so Wagner left Minna. Though she kept following him for years until 1862 (more on that later).
In 1861, Wagner lived in Paris and revised his Tannhäuser (creating version #2). Version #3 is the so-called Vienna version from 1875.
The following year, Wagner moved again, this time to Biebrich to compose Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for a publisher in order to improve his financial situation once again (though it didn't premier until 1868). It was then that the final break-up with his wife happened. That year, Wagner also premiered one of his operas in Vienna, performing for none other than Empress Elisabeth (Sissi). Yep, he knew one hell of a lot of important people and most of them liked him!
In 1864, Wagner was called to the palace in Munich as he was the newly crowned boy-king's favorite composer. Wagner ended up being the king's adviser, too. The king even dedicated the castle Neuschwanstein to him! That was when Wagner's financial troubles practically disappeared.
The year after, Wagner began dictating his biography to Cosima with whom he was now officially together (they had three children). No, Cosima was not divorced yet (that only happened in 1870) but that doesn't seem to have stopped anyone. Wagner and Cosima married about one month after the divorce.
Around that time, they met Nietzsche and befriended him (he was present when their 3rd child was born).
But now for the juicy bit: THE most famous work Wagner ever wrote / composed has a looong history: Der Ring des Nibelungen . As hinted at before, Wagner had found inspiration here and there, even started writing bits and pieces, but it never came together, it was never right. In 1871, finally, Wagner started writing like a maniac and managed to complete the first part, Das Rheingold in just a few months. The opera was premiered in 1869.
Only a year later, the second part, Die Walküre was premiered. Both, by the way, against Wagner's expressed wishes (he wanted to have all 4 parts premier at the same time, the fourth being Götterdämmerung ).
In 1871, Wagner premiered the entire Der Ring des Nibelungen in Bayreuth (until today one of THE addresses for high-society performances of operas, symphonies and more) while Otto von Bismarck was present.
In 1873, after having placed the cornerstone for the festival opera house that was built in his name, Wagner was seriously ill for the first time (heart, ironically enough).
After having received a medal in 1874 and the festival opera house's construction having been finished in 1875, the first official Bayreuther Festspiele, which showed the entire Der Ring des Nibelungen, were conducted in 1876 under the patronage of Emperor Wilhelm I.
The last work Wagner completed was Parsifal from 1877 until 1879 (he finished it in 1882). Within that time, he traveled to London where he was invited by Queen Victoria of England.
Since the performances of the Ring in Bayreuth was a financial disaster, Wagner even considered fleeing to the US. Since that was not feasible and several friends convinced him it was folly, Wagner instead moved to Italy, which was supposed to also help with his deteriorating health. He lived in several cities, the last of which was Venice (where Liszt lived as well). He died on February 13. A day later, the family accompanied the body back to Bayreuth where Wagner was interred in the crypt of the garden of Villa Wahnfried (his erstwhile home) on February 18.
Yes, this is one hell of a long biography despite me having left out an incredible amount. Wagner's musical life started late compared to other composers and he was a weird one, certainly, prone to outbursts and such. However, what he did end up writing was incredible, especially if you're a fan of Norse mythology, and several of his works are amongst my favorites. He truly is one of the greats and this is only one of two biographies about him that I'll read this month (though the second one's review will likely only contain a few words and a link to this review *lol*).
A note about the author: I have rarely read such a great book. Sure, the events were gripping enough, but it also takes a truly great writer to grip the reader and adequately portray a complex figure like Richard Wagner. Martin Gregor-Dellin is one such writer. This biography was meticulously researched and brilliantly written and I enjoyed every second of it (also because of the writing style itself which might be considered "dated" but I really loved how the author showed what the German language was capable of without appearing bloated). As an added bonus, we get tons of historical context, which is absolutely necessary, nay vital - here, perhaps, even more than in other biographies.
Absolute recommendation!
January 15, 2021
What a fascinating biography! I hadn't realized that Wagner was such a complex character and his relationship with his wife Cosima was quite interesting... even when he was chasing another woman.
I couldn't understand, however, the fascination throughout the book regarding Wagner's height. Some stated that he was a dwarf but it was finally found to be documented that he was 5 ft. 5 and a half inches. Did his height really matter? It's what he achieved in his lifetime with his mind-blowing operas!
There were various odd words in the translation but apart from that the book was a pleasure to read.
I couldn't understand, however, the fascination throughout the book regarding Wagner's height. Some stated that he was a dwarf but it was finally found to be documented that he was 5 ft. 5 and a half inches. Did his height really matter? It's what he achieved in his lifetime with his mind-blowing operas!
There were various odd words in the translation but apart from that the book was a pleasure to read.
April 27, 2020
Considered by many the definitive biography of one of the most influential and controversial figures of the 19th century. The author does a great job at giving a very clear narrative of his life, with neither a laudatory nor adversarial tone, which is often the case with writers when confronted by the figure of Wagner. If I had one criticism it would be that the author presumes the reader familiar with all of Wagner's prose works; had excerpts been included, it could have enhanced at least this reader's view of the subject.
January 9, 2025
C'est une excellente biographie mais trop courte car je l'ai aimé beaucoup
November 7, 2023
Considered by many to be the definitive biography of Richard Wagner, this book certainly lives up to its reputation with its deep research and balanced insights into the life of one of the most transformational artists of the 19th century.
The picture that emerges is that of a profoundly (almost divinely) inspired man who managed to coalesce his many inspirations & views on the human condition into massive artworks. I definitely got a good sense of the man and his virtues & flaws.
However, this book should come with a warning. It is definitely not for the musical neophyte and a healthy knowledge of Wagnerian music is a prerequisite for embarking on this. I continually had to refer to his Wikipedia page, and that of his specific works, to obtain some context that the author assumes. Some of the musical innovations for which Wagner is renowned flew right over my head, I was not able to understand what the author meant in those rather technical areas.
Overall, this is a very competent biography but it is not light reading and it requires a real commitment for which the reader's motivation needs to be very clear....
If you liked this review, follow me on Instagram @litwithcharles, where I do weekly book reviews, quizzes and lots of other fun literary content. I also have a weekly podcast, Lit with Charles, and a YouTube channel, Lit with Charles, where I host interviews with a huge array of writers, academics & publishers.
If you have thoughts on the book I’ve just reviewed or ideas for what you’d like to see me read next, send me a message here – I’d love to hear from you.
The picture that emerges is that of a profoundly (almost divinely) inspired man who managed to coalesce his many inspirations & views on the human condition into massive artworks. I definitely got a good sense of the man and his virtues & flaws.
However, this book should come with a warning. It is definitely not for the musical neophyte and a healthy knowledge of Wagnerian music is a prerequisite for embarking on this. I continually had to refer to his Wikipedia page, and that of his specific works, to obtain some context that the author assumes. Some of the musical innovations for which Wagner is renowned flew right over my head, I was not able to understand what the author meant in those rather technical areas.
Overall, this is a very competent biography but it is not light reading and it requires a real commitment for which the reader's motivation needs to be very clear....
If you liked this review, follow me on Instagram @litwithcharles, where I do weekly book reviews, quizzes and lots of other fun literary content. I also have a weekly podcast, Lit with Charles, and a YouTube channel, Lit with Charles, where I host interviews with a huge array of writers, academics & publishers.
If you have thoughts on the book I’ve just reviewed or ideas for what you’d like to see me read next, send me a message here – I’d love to hear from you.
February 20, 2011
Gran bella biografia di Wagner, scritta bene e con ritmo.
Great biography of Wagner, well written and witty.
Great biography of Wagner, well written and witty.
May 17, 2011
On the search to the Nukleus of the great Composer! Very interessting to read, but you have to fight with a overkill of informations.
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