Richard Wagner: The Sorcerer of Bayreuth - Hardcover

Barry Millington

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 050051643X ISBN 13: 9780500516430

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2012

Synopsis

Published in the run-up to the 200th anniversary of the composers birth in 2013, and written by one of the most distinguished Wagner scholars in the world, this will be the Wagner book of the bicentenary. Richard Wagner (18131883) is one of the most influential and also one of the most polarizing composers in the history of music. Over the course of his long career, he produced a stream of spellbinding works that challenged musical convention through their richness and tonal experimentation, ultimately paving the way for modernism. This book presents an in-depth but easy-to-read overview of Wagners life, work and times. Making use of the very latest scholarship much of it undertaken by the author himself in connection with his editorship of The Wagner Journal Millington reassesses received notions about Wagner and his work, demolishing ill-informed opinion in favour of proper critical understanding. It is a radical and occasionally controversial reappraisal of this most perplexing of composers. The book considers a whole range of themes, including the composers original sources of inspiration; his fetish for exotic silks; his relationship with his wife, Cosima, and with his mistress, Mathilde Wesendonck; his anti-semitism; the operas proto-cinematic nature; and the turbulent legacy both of the Bayreuth Festival and of Wagnerism itself. The volumes arrangement unique among books on the composer combines an accessible text, intriguing images and original documents in carefully co-ordinated sections, thus ensuring a consistently fresh approach.

About this title

Review:

[Barry Millington] depicts Wagner's warmth, charm and frequent generosity of spirit, and the admiration his intellect and energy commanded even from skeptics. --BBC Music

Millington's unquestioning adoration of his subject is moving --Classical Music

[The] structure both makes the book accessible for reference and opens it up to readership of different levels of Wagnerian scholarship or interest --The Wagner Journal

Millington has an easy pen, writing with exemplary lucidity whether outlining an opera plot or musical structure, unravelling a complex philosophical argument or adjudicating a contentious socio-political issue ... Millington's variegated skills come together impressively in his latest book ... As Millington steers us through his vivid voyage of rediscovery, he navigates his way skilfully around a succession of rocks ... a good book --Opera

The plain man's Wagner a balanced and beautifully illustrated compendium of life works, written in Millington's easy-to-read style --Best Books of 2012, The Financial Times

This is ... the most readable of books, engagingly presented and beautifully produced - with striking illustrations on good paper that make it a pleasure to turn the pages. --Ham & High

An excellent book ... lavishly illustrated, with photographs and portraits of the leading participants in Wagner's astounding life ... the liveliness and dry humour of [Millington's] style add to the attractiveness ... this book should be on every budding Wagnerian's shelves. --Opera Now

Masterful ... it's hard to imagine that anyone will put the case pro and contra Wagner with as much lucidity, humour and intelligence as Barry Millington --Country Life

The Wagner book of the bicentenary ... sumptuous ... If you only read one book about Wagner, make it this one ... Puts the great man into context and perspective, and this is a wonderfully readable book about a musical genius. Simply fantastic. --Books Monthly

Superbly illustrated ... an ideal starting point for understanding the importance of the bicentennial of the composer's birth --Camden New Journal

Handsome, highly illustrated ... a highly desirable addition to any serious classical buff's bookshelf. --Good Book Guide

Draws on recent scholarship to paint a fresh picture of its subject ... Engagingly written, comprehensively illustrated and leaving the reader wanting more ... the perfect short introduction to the man who, so the legend goes, has had more books written about him than anyone except Jesus or Napoleon. --Fortean Times

Superbly illustrated ... an ideal starting point for understanding the importance of the bicentennial of the composer's birth --Camden New Journal

Draws on recent scholarship to paint a fresh picture of its subject ... Engagingly written, comprehensively illustrated and leaving the reader wanting more ... the perfect short introduction to the man who, so the legend goes, has had more books written about him than anyone except Jesus or Napoleon --Fortean Times

About the Author:

Barry Millington is chief music critic for the London Evening Standard and the editor of The Wagner Journal. He has written and edited, or co-edited, seven books on Wagner, including The Wagner Compendium, The Ring of the Nibelungen: A Companion and the New Grove Guide to Wagner and his Operas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 050051643X
• ISBN 13: 9780500516430
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320