| Abstract |
His life fascinates--and obsesses--more people than that of any composer in history. Adolf Hitler idolized him. Friedrich Nietzsche grew to loathe him. Thousands of articles and books try to explain the complex, charismatic genius who changed the face of music forever. But who was Richard Wagner? In this biography, Derek Watson strips away the clouds of confusion and myth, the adoration and the hatred, that surround this remarkable life. And he permits us to examine, perhaps for the first time, the actual achievement of the most fascinating figure in music. Drawing on long-unavailable private documents from the Wagner family archives, Watson paints a portrait as clear and compellingly honest as it is brilliantly detailed. Unsparing, intelligent, and coolly objective--where others are not--Watson chronicles the events and people, successes and failures, of Wagner's life. Wagner touched on nothing lightly. Adulterer and anti-Semite, mystical philosopher and tireless entrepreneur, he was a man of great personal charm--and of overbearing egoism, selfishness and cruelty. His support for the revolution of 1848 forced him into exile, but he easily won the fervent support of kings and emperor. Derek Watson chronicles all of Wagner's dramatic contradictions, blending them carefully until a full picture emerges. While he does not attempt a detailed analysis of Wagner's music, he does provide a masterful introduction to the contexts from which it sprung--a fresh perspective on the often puzzling relationship between artistic creation and personal quality. Much more than an insightful exploration of Wagner's philosophy or politics, this book is a vivid recreation of concert halls and courts that rang with his music. From Dresden to Paris, Vienna to Venice, London to Bayreuth, Watson takes us on a grand tour of Wagner's Europe. He brings back to life the people whose lives Wagner influenced, from the boy king of Bavaria to the Zurich patron whose wife Wagner courted. Berlioz, Liszt, Schopenhauer, Hans von Bulow--his wife Cosima would later become Wagner's own--this book rings with the great artists, composers, and intellectuals of the Romantic age. Complete with 32 pages of photographs, paintings, and drawings, and rich with excerpts from letters and diaries, this book brings its subject to humane scale, while never trying to resolve his heroic contradictions. It is the story of a fascinating man, and of an endlessly intriguing legacy. |
