| Contents |
1. Counterparts: Stand-off in a garden ; Stereophony -- 2. National characters: North and south ; Old Germany, young Italy ; Conquerors ; 'Oh, you nineteenth century!' -- 3. Maestro, meister, muses: Lessons of the masters ; Getting and spending ; Magi ; Two women and womankind ; At home -- 4. Duets or dualities: Genesis in music ; 'That song conquers me' ; Lovers and heroes ; A new religion -- 5. A death and a regeneration: The man of the evening ; An evergreen -- 6. Their second century: Ups and downs ; On the march ; After the war, before the revolution ; Notes on the redefinition of culture ; Acts of remembrance |
| Abstract |
This is an exploration of the lives and works of Verdi and Wagner as well as their respective legacies to the present day, written by a noted cultural critic. Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, the two greatest operatic composers of their time, had everything and nothing in common. Their achievements were comparable, but their personalities, their approaches to music and drama, and their complex legacies made them incompatible. Verdi thought of art as a comfort to mankind; it pleased Wagner to believe that the nervous intensity of his operas might drive listeners mad. Is it impossible as the author asks in this book--the first to investigate their affinities and explain their mutual mistrust--to love them both? These equally matched Titans offer us a choice between two kinds of art, two ways of life, two opposed philosophies of existence. During their lifetimes Verdi and Wagner helped to define the identity of their emerging nations; their music still dramatizes the light and dark sides of every human beings character and consciousness. |
