Wagner, Richard (1813 - 1883)

[Ein Heldenleben]

I thought I’d start a Wagner thread on the grounds that he doesn’t seem to have one and to mark the fact that , one year after buying it, I’ve finally finished Ernest Newman’s 4 vol 2,678 page biography . I would love to hear thoughts from anyone else who has read it or dipped into it. It is well worth the effort - a truly superb work.
I don’t think I’ve ever read an artist’s life where the biographer is so critical of his subject . Wagner , under Newman’s gaze , is selfish , venal , profligate , anti Semitic . He is also an artistic force of the highest order : not just as composer but as a profound reshaper of German Opera , drama and musical culture - incontestably the most significant figure of later 19th century German and possibly European culture. Lowlights include gambling away his mother’s pension and then re-winning the losses, his treatment of Minna, stealing Cosima from his devoted musical aide Hans Von Bulow , borrowing endless amounts from friends , not repaying them and then criticising them many years later in print. There is also his anti-Semitism which emerges from Newman’s account as much more profound than that expressed in Jewishness in Music. Newman wrote the final volume drawing the War and describes Wagner’s writings on German race supremacy as showing him almost as a proto- Hitler. The charge list is grave - there are many more I haven’t listed.
On the plus side there is obviously his genius , his almost unswerving single mindedness in pursuit of his artistic aims , the devotion ,indeed love, he inspired from his friends and circle despite his treatment of them . Umm that’s about it...
I suppose the question is how much does this detract from enjoyment of the works? Everyone will have their own answer.
If there are Wagnerphiles left out there perhaps they could recommend a more modern biography? I’ve earmarked Köhler’s Wagner : Last of the Titans already.

[Richard Barrett]

I thought I’d start a Wagner thread on the grounds that he doesn’t seem to have one and to mark the fact that , one year after buying it, I’ve finally finished Ernest Newman’s 4 vol 2,678 page biography . I would love to hear thoughts from anyone else who has read it or dipped into it. If there are Wagnerphiles left out there perhaps they could recommend a more modern biography? I’ve earmarked Köhler’s Wagner : Last of the Titans already.

Not a biography as such but I think you'd find Alex Ross's new book Wagnerism very interesting and thought-provoking. John Deathridge's Wagner - Beyond Good and Evil and Bryan Magee's two (comparatively brief!) books on Wagner are highly informative too.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Not a biography as such but I think you'd find Alex Ross's new book Wagnerism very interesting and thought-provoking. John Deathridge's Wagner - Beyond Good and Evil and Bryan Magee's two (comparatively brief!) books on Wagner are highly informative too.

Thanks Richard - I’ve read the Magees but not the others though I’ve heard good reports. Newman still seems to be credited as being the definitive biography but presumably there’s new scholarship all the time . At the time of writing many letters from , to and about Wagner in the Burrell collection appear to have been unreleased. Newman’s detective work is almost obsessive at times - it’s a pity he didn’t have full access.

[Joseph K]

I have fond memories of researching and writing an essay on the Ring cycle at uni. I used and recommend Rudolph Sabor's translation of and commentaries on the Ring - though unfortunately these are out of print. And I'd second Richard's recommendations on the Magee books - his book on Wagner and Philosophy is very good (though I see now you've read it).

[gradus]

Thanks Richard - I’ve read the Magees but not the others though I’ve heard good reports. Newman still seems to be credited as being the definitive biography but presumably there’s new scholarship all the time . At the time of writing many letters from , to and about Wagner in the Burrell collection appear to have been unreleased. Newman’s detective work is almost obsessive at times - it’s a pity he didn’t have full access.

Not yet managed Newman's biography but Cosima's Diaries are fascinating and revealing as well as full of praise for 'The Genius'.
Wagner's autobiography is well worth digging out too.
It's all too easy to become obsessional about Wagner and I found I needed to let fresh air in after a long period of immersion but it only takes an excerpt on the radio to rekindle my enthusiasm.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Not yet managed Newman's biography but Cosima's Diaries are fascinating and revealing as well as full of praise for 'The Genius'.
Wagner's autobiography is well worth digging out too.
It's all too easy to become obsessional about Wagner and I found I needed to let fresh air in after a long period of immersion but it only takes an excerpt on the radio to rekindle my enthusiasm.

Cosima’s devotion was extraordinary. The psychological cost of being a Catholic , having Liszt as father , and bearing two children by RW while still married to Hans must have been extraordinary. It can’t have been great for Hans - the innocent party - either . He seems a very complex , indeed unstable figure - I must find a biog of him. Cosima was as you know , like RW , a terrible anti-Semite. It seems incredible that intelligent people could believe the sort of things she did - particularly as so many Jewish musicians aided RW throughout his career.

[gurnemanz]

Not a biography as such but I think you'd find Alex Ross's new book Wagnerism very interesting and thought-provoking. John Deathridge's Wagner - Beyond Good and Evil and Bryan Magee's two (comparatively brief!) books on Wagner are highly informative too.

I have been eyeing up Alex Ross but have held back for now (784 pages was a factor). I have rather a lot of Wagner books, including Ernest Newman's Wagner Nights which has been a standard reference for decades (its pages have turned brown) but I'm afraid I will probably resist his lengthy biography mentioned above. I have read Bryan Magee's (not so brief) Wagner and Philosophy. Alas, I am not a philosopher or as clever as either Magee or Wagner and though I got a lot out of it I will admit some of it strained my intellectual capacity.

Robert Donington's Wagner's Ring and its Symbols is a favourite also a much-used modern reprint of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Text mit Notentafeln der Leitmotive, first published in 1913, a significant Wagner year. More recent books I have enjoyed are Peter Conrad's Verdi and/or Wagner, Jonathan Carr's The Wagner Clan and a German one from Oliver Hilmes, Herrin des Hügels, Das Leben der Cosima Wagner. She was able to match her husband's unappealing conduct. I was rather shocked when reading Hilmes' description of how she handled her father, Franz Liszt's last days and funeral arrangements.

[Petrushka]

It's 50 years this year since I came to Wagner and it was pretty heady stuff for a 16 year old! I somehow managed to persuade my sceptical mother to get me the Solti Das Rheingold for Christmas in 1970 and have never looked back. I read the Newman biography during 1985 and agree with Heldenleben's verdict. It's a colossal achievement with a level of detail only equalled by Henri de la Grange in his multi-volume Mahler biography.

Nowadays, I play nowhere near as much Wagner as I once did but it doesn't take much for the old magic to be rekindled.

[Roslynmuse]

Alan Walker's monumental three-volume biography of Liszt also describes the appalling last days in such a way that both RW and Cosima emerge as deeply selfish individuals. It is certainly to be recommended as a way of viewing RW from another angle.

Despite the many hours spent listening to Wagner and my almost unbounded admiration for much of the music, I haven't read a biography of him for many years, and even then it was the short and straightforward Barry Millington book. The whole complex issue of the relation of the fallible human being to the music is one that feels especially uncomfortable in RW's case.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It's 50 years this year since I came to Wagner and it was pretty heady stuff for a 16 year old! I somehow managed to persuade my sceptical mother to get me the Solti Das Rheingold for Christmas in 1970 and have never looked back. I read the Newman biography during 1985 and agree with Heldenleben's verdict. It's a colossal achievement with a level of detail only equalled by Henri de la Grange in his multi-volume Mahler biography.

Nowadays, I play nowhere near as much Wagner as I once did but it doesn't take much for the old magic to be rekindled.

I think it’s the longest book I’ve ever read - longer than Proust . But it’s eminently readable despite the frequent digressive footnotes - though these are some of the most interesting things in the book . It is a colossal achievement and great to hear from some one else who has read it. I just read 20 pages a night before going to sleep and it took 4 months. Maybe I’ll try H de la G next ...

[Ein Heldenleben]

I have been eyeing up Alex Ross but have held back for now (784 pages was a factor). I have rather a lot of Wagner books, including Ernest Newman's Wagner Nights which has been a standard reference for decades (its pages have turned brown) but I'm afraid I will probably resist his lengthy biography mentioned above. I have read Bryan Magee's (not so brief) Wagner and Philosophy. Alas, I am not a philosopher or as clever as either Magee or Wagner and though I got a lot out of it I will admit some of it strained my intellectual capacity.

Robert Donington's Wagner's Ring and its Symbols is a favourite also a much-used modern reprint of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Text mit Notentafeln der Leitmotive, first published in 1913, a significant Wagner year. More recent books I have enjoyed are Peter Conrad's Verdi and/or Wagner, Jonathan Carr's The Wagner Clan and a German one from Oliver Hilmes, Herrin des Hügels, Das Leben der Cosima Wagner. She was able to match her husband's unappealing conduct. I was rather shocked when reading Hilmes' description of how she handled her father, Franz Liszt's last days and funeral arrangements.

Thanks for the suggestions Gurnemanz ( ooh I sound a bit like Parsifal there ). By Newman’s account RW wasn’t quite as good as a philosopher as he preened himself on being - so you may well have the edge there . Newman is scathing about a lot of his prose writings with the exception those on Art ,Drama and music unsurprisingly.
I’ve got the Donington which as you say is a classic and also a 1949 Wagner Nights . All the others sound excellent - I’ve started the Magee and will maybe attempt the Ross on finishing that .
The hill in the Cosima biography title is the one that the Festspielhaus is on I guess ? I suppose she was a heroine : I’m still reeling from the fact that after Wagner’s death she stayed with corpse for 24 hours and had to be encouraged away; she lost so much weight through grief her wedding rings fell off and were found at Bayreuth railway station by an acolyte.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I have fond memories of researching and writing an essay on the Ring cycle at uni. I used and recommend Rudolph Sabor's translation of and commentaries on the Ring - though unfortunately these are out of print. And I'd second Richard's recommendations on the Magee books - his book on Wagner and Philosophy is very good (though I see now you've read it).

Read the short Magee a couple of times . About 50 pages into the longer so I was slightly exaggerating there...(another Wagner vice)

[Ein Heldenleben]

Alan Walker's monumental three-volume biography of Liszt also describes the appalling last days in such a way that both RW and Cosima emerge as deeply selfish individuals. It is certainly to be recommended as a way of viewing RW from another angle.

Despite the many hours spent listening to Wagner and my almost unbounded admiration for much of the music, I haven't read a biography of him for many years, and even then it was the short and straightforward Barry Millington book. The whole complex issue of the relation of the fallible human being to the music is one that feels especially uncomfortable in RW's case.

The Millington book is very good. I ought to try your excellent Liszt suggestion - I’ve struggled with his piano pieces often enough! .

[Jonathan]

Slightly off topic, there is a biography of von Bulow entitled: Hans Von Bülow: A Life and Times by Alan Walker. He comes across as a complex and interesting figure with some weird personality quirks - for example defacing advertising slogans on pianos he was supposed to be advertising while on tour in the US. I've not read it for years, I must read it again...

I should also put in a word for the book by Alan Walker which is a translation of Liszt's pupil, Lina von Schmalhausen's diary of the last 2 weeks of Liszt's life - showing the distinct lack of interest that Cosima paid to her fathers impending death. It's called "The Death of Franz Liszt Based on the Unpublished Diary of His Pupil Lina Schmalhausen". It is extremely harrowing in parts though.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Thanks - not off topic at all.I’m looking for an H Von B biography and he’s so bound up with Wagner .Other forumites have mentioned Cosima’s treatment of her father - I must find out more.