Book Description

Book Description
The four operas of Richard Wagner's epic opera cycle, the Ring, are among the greatest and most influential works in the genre.While their music has been the subject of lengthy discussion and analysis, there has hitherto been little scrutiny of their libretti, which Wagner wrote himself
based on the German Nibelung sagas.This book reveals the resurgence of interest in saga and myth in Wagner's day, and, in establishing an authoritative bibliography of Wagner's Nibelung reading, shows how contemporary editors, scholars, and poets influenced the shape of Wagner's libretti.The
resulting study sheds fascinating new light on these musical masterpieces. ... Read more

Book Description
This famed correspondence is full of valuable material for the musical life of the time. Translated by Francis Hueffer. New Edition Revised by W. Ashton Ellis.

THIS TITLE IS CITED AND RECOMMENDED BY:Books for College Libraries; Catalogue of the Lamont Library, Harvard College. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is work an atrocity!!!!!!
This work is an absolute atrocity and has no use other then fire starter... or for a good laugh!!
These claimed erudites and doctors with there Phds etc. etc.
Reveal that they know less than infants when it comes to a matter of true glory!!
This book is the bashing of one of the greatest Spirits in history RICHARD WAGNER!!!!!!!!
Why Bother writing a book just to insult someone???

To all those involved in the creation of this work, my heart goes out to you, for you know not what you do. FOOLS!

This book does not even deserve a rating.

WAGNER IS A MASTER!!!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Scholarly work on Wagner's music and thought
A standard biography followed by a discussion of his work, showing how it is grounded in his intellectual and spiritual development.An interesting and valuable work, perhaps a bit difficult for those not well-grounded in philosophy.Especially valuable for his relationship with Nietzche and his influence on Wagner's own prolific literary works.A scholarly work for musicians well worth reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Richard Wagner continues to be the most controversial artist in history, a perpetually troubling figure in our cultural consciousness. The unceasing debate over his works and their impact--for and against--is one reason why there has been no genuinely comprehensive modern account of his musical dramas until now. Dieter Borchmeyer's book is the first to present an overall picture of these musical dramas from the standpoint of literary and theatrical history. It extends from the composer's early works--still largely ignored--to the Ring Cycle and Parsifal, and includes Wagner's unfinished works and operas he never set to music. Through lively prose, we come to see Wagner as a librettist--and as a man of letters--rather than primarily as musical composer.

Borchmeyer uncovers a vast field of cultural and historical cross-references in Wagner's works. In the first part of the book, he sets out in search of the various archetypal scenes, opening up the composer's dramatic workshop to the reader. He covers all of Wagner's operas, from early juvenilia to the canonical later works.

The second part examines Wagner in relation to political figures including King Ludwig II and Bismarck, and, importantly, in light of critical reactions by literary giants--Thomas Mann, whom Borchmeyer calls "a guiding light in this exploration of the fields that Wagner tilled," and Nietzsche, whose appeal to "philology" is a key source of inspiration in attempts to grapple with Wagner's works.

For more than twenty years, Borchmeyer has placed his scholarship at the service of the famed Bayreuth Festival. With this volume, he gives us a summation of decades of engagement with the phenomenon of Wagner and, at the same time, the result of an abiding critical passion for his works.

Customer Reviews (1)

Uneven but worthwhile
Dieter Borchmeyer, a professor at Heidelberg, is prodigiously well read. How can the man have a life outside of books? (But his website shows that he does.) For each of the fourteen chapters of this book, Borchmeyer settles on a theme, sometimes a tangential one, but a theme. Whether it's a literary source that we've overlooked or the antithetical attitudes of Wagner and Ludwig on religion vs. art, the subject at hand is fairly tight. This is not a book, then, with a clear thesis, and it suffers a bit from that. Moreover it is uneven: to this reader some of the subjects Borchmeyer chooses simply lack much interest. On the other hand, his chapter on the Ring is one of the most insightful I've ever read. So here's what I'd suggest: by all means read it, but with some judicious skimming. ... Read more

Book Description
Michael Saffle leaves no stone unturned as he annotates all the bibliographic material on Wagner: the documentary legacies, his life and times, including his relationships with men and women and his operas, including the classics Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A source of innocent merriment
It must be assumed that the enormity of the task, and his complete lack of qualifications to execute it, had not dawned on the author before he was too far into this project to abandon it. The result is simply a mess: some of the 1175 items cited in this Guide are derivative or trivial contributions to the vast literature, while seminal contributions to it have been overlooked. Most of the entries contain errors, suggesting that the book or article cited has received no more than a cursory examination. In many cases Saffle's description of the book or article bears no resemblence to its contents. For example, Saffle tells us that Nietzsche's 'Richard Wagner in Bayreuth' contains "impressions of the 1876 Bayreuth Festival", despite the fact that it was published before that Festival was held. When such an important resource as Curt von Westernhagen's catalogue of Wagner's Dresden library is incorrectly described, one can only conclude that the author of this Guide was far out of his depth. It is hard to understand how the publishers could leave the preparation of this book in the hands of an author who knew so little about Wagner that he could not even get the titles of the composer's major works right, either in the original language or in translation -- he believes for example that Wagner wrote 'Die Liebesverbot', 'Le hollandaise Volant' and 'The Valkyries' -- or why an individual who believes that the libretto of 'Die Zauberflöte' was written by Da Ponte and that the 'Altenberg Lieder' are the work of Anton von Webern, is writing about opera and music. It is to be regretted that the publishers did not see fit to involve anyone familiar with French or German in this project, since both these languages are obviously unknown to Saffle. The book in its present form and with its present quality is worthless, except perhaps as a source of unintended humour.

An Expert's Opinon
In the Book Review section of the September 2003 edition of "Wagner": the journal of the Wagner Society; Stewart Spencer dedicates three pages (44-46) to demonstrating that this book is merely an addition to: "...the mountain of worthless writings on Wagner."

The serious student should be wary therefore, of spending so much on a book considered "worthless" by Spencer: an established authority on the composer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

First rate summary of the Ring; a real workhorse of a book!
Clear concise overview of the Wagner Ring Cycle story and associated Leitmotives.Equally useful to the beginner as well as the more advanced student of music. The progressive changes of the motives over the duration of the cycle are well explained. I have read several books about the ring, but find myself returning to this book the most ... Read more

Book Description
Swedish artist Karl Momen created 18 symbolic paintings, each representative of a major character from well recognized works of Shakespeare and Wagner. A story accompanies each work of art illustrating the drama of the painting. Full color. ... Read more