The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family

The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family
by Jonathan Carr

The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family
List Price: $16.95
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Buy The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Jonathan Carr
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-06
ISBN: 0802143997
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Grove Press

Book Reviews of The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family

Book Review: The Wagner Clan examines the family of musical genius and horrible human being-Richard Wagner
Summary: 5 Stars

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) ranks alongside Italian G. Verdi as the greatest opera composer of all time. Among his gigantic works are "The Ring Cycle (Das Rheingold, The Valkyrie, Siegrfried and Twilight of the Gods), "Der Meistersinger" (his only "comedy"); Tannhaueser, Lohengrin and Parsifal.
Wagner was many things to many people. He was a notorious womanizer being unfaithful to his singer-wife Minna. Among other lovers were Mathilde Wessendock (spouse of an industrialist who gave Wagner money needed to keep composing) and Cosima Wagner (the illegitimate daughter of Franz Liszt and Maria d'Agoult. Wagner married Cosima after she divorced her conductor husband Hans Van Bulow. They had already conceived a daughter named Isolde. Cosima worshipped Richard who was a narcissitic worshipper of himself and his art. Her long diary presents an unsavory picture of Wagner who wrote horrible screeds against Judaism (even though he did have some Jewish friends-Wagner was friendly with anyone he could use for financial or critical support). His daughter Eva wed Houston Chamberlain who was famous for his anti-semetic writings.
Wagner died in 1883 being known for his musical genius, bitter hatred of Jews and love of luxury, women, dogs, fine foods and mooching off of King Ludwig II of Bavaria who supported his work. Cosima took over the Wagner's Bayreuth Festival. She was antisemitic and was a tough cookie in running the show on the Green Hill. She died in 1939.
Her son Siegfried a composer who was a fairly pleasant sort. He married an English woman Winifred who was several years younger than he. When Siegfried died in 1930 it was Winifred who ran Bayreuth. She was a fanatical Nazi who adored Adolf Hitler. Hitler was close to the Wagner family demanding his lackeys attend the festival keeping it financially afloat during the Depression and World War II. Winifred spoke highly of Hitler until her death in 1980.
She and Siegfried were the parents of four children. Daughter Friedelind hated the Nazis and became an American citizen. Daughter Verena married an SS officer and stayed close to Bayreuth. The two sons were very different. Wieland was a dreamy, moody, secretive man who did not serve in World War II. He married a dancer but was unfaithful and difficult to like. He died in 1966. His more practical brother Wolfgang served as a German soldier and became a powerful producer of the Bayreuth festival. He wed twice. Today the children of these two strong men are quarreling over who will head the Bayreuth Festival.
The Wagner family has a tragic history of antisemitism although some members such as Gottfried Wagner (a son of Wolfgang) seek to work with groups seeking peace and justice.He seeks to atone for Germany's responsibility of mass murder in the Holocaust.
Jonathan Carr has done a fine job of presenting a history of the illustrious and notorious Wagners. This is an excellent book for those who love opera, music, and the impact of politics on art. Recommended.

Summary of The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family

An Economist Best Book of 2007, Jonathan Carr's The Wagner Clan proves, with the sweeping scope of a Wagnerian opera, that the history of Europe and that of the infamous composer's family are inextricably intertwined. Carr presents not only Richard Wagner himself- musician, philosopher, philanderer, failed revolutionary, and virulent anti-Semite-but also a colorful cast of historical figures who feature in Wagner's story: Franz Liszt (whose illegitimate daughter Cosima married Wagner); Friedrich Nietzsche; Arthur Schopenhauer; Richard Strauss; Gustav Mahler; Arturo Toscanini; Joseph Goebbels; Hermann G?ring; and the "Wolf " himself, Adolf Hitler, a passionate fan of the Master's music and an adopted uncle to Wagner's grandchildren. Wagner's British-born daughter-in-law, Winifred, was a close friend of Hitler's and seemed momentarily positioned to marry him after the death of her husband. All through the war the Bayreuth Festival, begun by the Master himself, was supported by Hitler, who had to fill the audience with fighting men and SS officers. After the war's devastation, the festival was dark for a decade until Wagner's offspring-with characteristic ambition and cunning- revived it. The Wagner Clan is a riveting chronicle of the ascent, decline, and rehabilitation of the German nation and its most infamous family.

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in General Books
Paul McCartney: A Life ImagePaul McCartney: A Life
by Peter A Carlin
Touchstone; Published: 2009-11-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops: $26.00
Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong ImagePops: A Life of Louis Armstrong
by Terry Teachout
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2009-12-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.98
Price in other shops: $30.00
Moon River and Me: A Memoir ImageMoon River and Me: A Memoir
by Andy Williams
Viking Adult; Published: 2009-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.29
Price in other shops: $25.95
We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga ImageWe'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga
by Paul Shaffer, David Ritz
Flying Dolphin Press; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.74
Price in other shops: $26.00
Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times ImageMan of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times
by Ralph Stanley, Eddie Dean
Gotham; Published: 2009-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.84
Price in other shops: $27.50
Phish: The Biography ImagePhish: The Biography
by Parke Puterbaugh
Da Capo Press; Published: 2009-11-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.49
Price in other shops: $25.00
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original ImageThelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
by Robin Kelley
Free Press; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.78
Price in other shops: $30.00
Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales ImageBig Man: Real Life & Tall Tales
by Clarence Clemons, Don Reo
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2009-10-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.49
Price in other shops: $26.99
Moonwalk ImageMoonwalk
by Michael Jackson
Harmony; Published: 2009-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.18
Price in other shops: $25.00
Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful ImageBon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful
by Bon Jovi
Collins Design; Published: 2009-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.02
Price in other shops: $30.00
Similar Books and other products
Mahler: A Biography ImageMahler: A Biography
by Jonathan Carr
Overlook Hardcover; Published: 1997-09-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $75.00
Richard Wagner: The Last of the Titans ImageRichard Wagner: The Last of the Titans
by Joachim Kohler
Yale University Press; Published: 2004-12-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $32.00
Price in other shops: $45.00
Twilight of the Wagners: The Unveiling of a Family's Legacy ImageTwilight of the Wagners: The Unveiling of a Family's Legacy
by Gottfried Wagner, Della Couling
Picador; Published: 1999-04-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.80
Price in other shops: $25.00
Wagner Without Fear:  Learning to Love--and Even Enjoy--Opera's Most Demanding Genius ImageWagner Without Fear: Learning to Love--and Even Enjoy--Opera's Most Demanding Genius
by William Berger
Vintage; Published: 1998-09-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.71
Price in other shops: $15.95
La Nilsson: My Life in Opera ImageLa Nilsson: My Life in Opera
by Birgit Nilsson
Northeastern; Published: 2007-05-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.92
Price in other shops: $35.00
Winnie and Wolf: A Novel ImageWinnie and Wolf: A Novel
by A. N. Wilson
Picador; Published: 2009-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.95
Price in other shops: $16.00
Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival ImageBayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival
by Mr. Frederic Spotts
Yale University Press; Published: 1994-05-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops: $65.00
Wagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art (General Interest) ImageWagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art (General Interest)
by M. Owen Lee
University of Toronto Press; Published: 1999-09-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops: $18.95
Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round ImageWagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round
by M. Owen Lee
Limelight Editions; Published: 2004-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.92
Price in other shops: $10.99
Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth ImageWinifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth
by Brigitte Hamann
Granta Books; Published: 2006-06-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.48
Price in other shops: $20.67
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories