The name of Wagner is associated with some of the greatest operas ever written, but also with German fascism, Hitler and the rise of the Nazi state. It has been a double-edged inheritance for his children and grandchildren. Wolfgang Wagner is the grandson of the composer, who died when Wolfgang was 11 years old. Now the head of the Bayreuth Festival, which is dedicated to Wagner's works, and famously outspoken, Wolfgang tells the story of his extraordinary family: their connections with Hitler, and feuds down the generations. Even today, as Wolfgang prepares to retire, the war of the Bayreuth succession is being bitterly fought. Wolfgang's mother, Winifred, was a formidable Englishwoman of pronounced Nazi sympathies, who helped to forge the links between the Nazis and Bayreuth which almost destroyed it. With his brother Wieland having fled Germany after the war, it fell to Wolfgang to rescue the reputation of Wagner and Bayreuth, and to restore the Festival to its place among the great artistic events. This he did with spectacular success, and today Bayreuth is a showplace of international talent. Frank and controversial, Wolfgang Wagner's autobiography will be published to coincide with his 70th birthday, his final production of the Ring and his retirement from the Bayreuth Festival.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
He is indeed his grandfather's progeny?imperious, supremely self-regarding?and his criticism of the Wagner family for its "tendency to provoke complications" applies to him as well. He seems disinclined to pull in his claws, making his self-described "caesura" a taxing read. Despite the author's protestations that he disdains conflict, that a "sewage farm" would be required to contain the "abuse and abject filth" he and his second wife have been subjected to, his autobiography is a sustained bleat, a payback. In primary disfavor is his sister Friedelind, and although he's more discreet about his highly regarded brother Wieland, he points out that Wieland, unlike himself, joined the Nazi Party. Also flogged is the younger Wagner generation, including his son and daughter by his first wife. Those observations made, there is nonetheless much of interest here, as the author, who was born in 1919, the third of the four children of Cosima and Richard Wagner's son Sigfried and his wife, Winifred, recalls?and attempts to rationalize?his mother's friendship with Hitler, then the postwar denazification of the Bayreuth Festival under his and Wieland's joint stewardship. Since his brother's death in 1966, the controversial author has continued as Bayreuth's overseer. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German
Original Language: German
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