Richard Wagner: His Life, Art, and Thought

by Ronald Taylor

This integrated study of the man, his life, and his works draws on Wagner's autobiographical writings and letters, the diary of his wife, Cosima, and the reminiscences of friends and associates

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Wagner's work for a while, so thought it was about time to finally read more about the man, his thoughts, life, loves, etc., as I was very ignorant of them. When I was younger, I had spent some time in Bayreuth without even knowing that Wagner had made the city famous, that he was buried there, etc. A shame.

I really, really enjoyed this book and how the author constructed information about Wagner's life and the though process that went into how he created his masterpieces. The author also didn't shy away from the more unsavory aspects of Wagner--his antisemitism, his grandiosity, his insatiable reliance on the praise of others, his many love affairs, etc. It all made him very real to me, and I was honestly sad--which shocked me--when I read the pages about his ultimate sickness and death.

[Julio César · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustan las biografías, no hay mucho más para decir. No soy gran fan de la música de Wagner, de hecho no escuché nunca su música, y no recuerdo por qué ni cuándo compré este libro, pero ahí estaba así que lo leí, con intermitencias, a lo largo del año.