Cosima Wagner
The Lady of Bayreuth
Will be published approx. on 15. April 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-300-17090-0 (ISBN)
Description
An enthralling new biography of the woman behind Bayreuth
In this meticulously researched book, Oliver Hilmes paints a fascinating and revealing picture of the extraordinary Cosima Wagner-illegitimate daughter of Franz Liszt, wife of the conductor Hans von Buelow, then mistress and subsequently wife of Richard Wagner. After Wagner's death in 1883 Cosima played a crucial role in the promulgation and politicization of his works, assuming control of the Bayreuth Festival and transforming it into a shrine to German nationalism. The High Priestess of the Wagnerian cult, Cosima lived on for almost fifty years, crafting the image of Richard Wagner through her organizational ability and ideological tenacity.
The first book to make use of the available documentation at Bayreuth, this biography explores the achievements of this remarkable and obsessive woman while illuminating a still-hidden chapter of European cultural history.
In this meticulously researched book, Oliver Hilmes paints a fascinating and revealing picture of the extraordinary Cosima Wagner-illegitimate daughter of Franz Liszt, wife of the conductor Hans von Buelow, then mistress and subsequently wife of Richard Wagner. After Wagner's death in 1883 Cosima played a crucial role in the promulgation and politicization of his works, assuming control of the Bayreuth Festival and transforming it into a shrine to German nationalism. The High Priestess of the Wagnerian cult, Cosima lived on for almost fifty years, crafting the image of Richard Wagner through her organizational ability and ideological tenacity.
The first book to make use of the available documentation at Bayreuth, this biography explores the achievements of this remarkable and obsessive woman while illuminating a still-hidden chapter of European cultural history.
Reviews / Votes
"'Oliver Hilmes has written by far the best biography of her... His book is a model of scholarship and also compellingly readable... A major achievement.' (Michael Tanner, BBC Music Magazine) 'This biography of Wagner's wife offers a wonderfully clear-eyed look at the couple's relationship and her fanatical tending of his flame.' (The Sunday Times) 'Oliver Hilmes has produced a surprisingly amusing book.' (Philip Hensher, Daily Telegraph) 'He has written a detailed, fair-minded and fascinating account, not just of a pivotal figure in European musical history, but of an epoch and an ethos: nineteenth-century German cultural and spiritual nationalism.' (Robert Carver, The Tablet) 'This well-written book (translated brilliantly - as ever - by Stewart Spencer) offers a clear and scrupulous insight into how she created and stoked the peculiar mania that infected the Wagner cult.' (Della Couling, Classical Music)"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
30 b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 200 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight
433 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-17090-0 (9780300170900)
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Schweitzer Classification