ECU Libraries Catalog

Wagner, a case history / Martin van Amerongen ; translated by Stewart Spencer and Dominic Cakebread.

Author/creator Amerongen, Martin van
Format Book and Print
Publication InfoNew York : George Braziller, 1984.
Description169 pages ; 22 cm
Subject(s)
Uniform titleBuikspreker van God. English
Contents Bayreuth in peace-time -- A skyscraper full of Wagneriana -- Daily life at the Villa Wahnfried -- The world premìere of the Ring -- Giant and gigantomane -- A socialist who hated socialists -- Friedrich Nietzsche and the fascination of Tristan -- A Jew-hater worshipped by Jews -- Three contemporaries: Meyerbeer, Offenbach and Heine -- The humour of Die Meistersinger -- An intrigue against King Ludwig II -- The ideologies of Parsifal -- Bayreuth at festival time -- The Bayreuth bark of Cosima Wagner -- Siegfried Wagner and the German nationalists -- Winifred Wagner and Bayreuth's moral bankruptcy -- Wieland and Wolfgang Wagner and New Bayreuth -- Bayreuth at festival time -- A peace-treaty with Richard Wagner.
Abstract A century after his death, Richard Wagner remains the subject of fierce argument. Attitudes toward him fall mostly into two camps--violent criticism and canonization. As a composer, he was certainly a revolutionary, but discussion usually focuses on his political standpoint, his alleged anti-Semitism and the way he was idolized by a number of Nazis. The author's stimulating and penetrating study is not only a biography of Wagner in the round, but rather an essay, a documentary and a commentary all in one. The result is a fascinating and original picture of 150 years of Wagnerian history that involves not only Wagner himself, but also such figures as Bakunin, Offenbach, Heine, Richard Strauss, Toscanini, Furtwangler, and Hitler. This book is especially valuable in the way it incorporates material and viewpoints not otherwise available to English-language readers.
General noteTranslation of: De buikspreker van God.
Bibliography noteIncludes "Bibliography and discography" (pages 153-160) and index.
LCCN 83021491
ISBN0807610917 :

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk ML410.W1 A59873 1984 ✔ Available Place Hold