Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival

Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival
by Frederic Spotts

Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival
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Book Summary Information

Author: Frederic Spotts
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-05-25
ISBN: 0300057776
Number of pages: 344
Publisher: Yale University Press

Book Reviews of Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival

Book Review: Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival
Summary: 5 Stars

I consider this book to be very informative, on a topic that may not interest everyone, but anyone who is interested in Wagner and his music should read this book. The links the author makes between the Bayreuth festival and Hitler help explain why Wagner's music was considered central to the National Socialist ideology. Another book which I have read and which I highly recommend for people who do not know much on Wagner but would like to know more is "Wagner without Fear" by William Berger. It mentions the Bayreuth festival, but also summarizes all of Wagner's operas (except "Rienzi"), something which is not found in "Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival."

Summary of Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival

The operatic festival Richard Wagner founded at Bayreuth in 1876 is the oldest, most famous and most influential in the world. Its productions and musical standards have been a model for opera houses everywhere, and Bayreuth has become a place of pilgrimage for music lovers, and the ultimate objective for singers and conductors. The story of the festival is however not just about an opera house but about a family, a society and an art form. The creation of a fervent German chauvinist, Bayreuth came to epitomize the tortured development of the German nation after unification in 1871. The festival became a citadel of racism and reaction, and the cultural showpiece of the Third Reich and Hitler's artistic centre. Here for the first time is a full-scale, serious, narrative account of the festival, based on wide-ranging research and interviews, which explains the political, managerial, social and artistic context of the Festival. It provides candid, sharply-etched portraits of the members of the Wagner family, their friends, enemies and critics, and of the controversy that has characterised it for over a century.

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