Published in the run-up to the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth in 2013, and written by one of the most distinguished Wagner scholars in the world, this will be the Wagner book of the bicentenary. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is one of the most influential - and also one of the most polarizing - composers in the history of music. Over the course of his long career, he produced a stream of spellbinding works that challenged musical convention through their richness and tonal experimentation, ultimately paving the way for modernism. This book presents an in-depth but easy-to-read overview of Wagner's life, work and times. Making use of the very latest scholarship - much of it undertaken by the author himself in connection with his editorship of The Wagner Journal - Millington reassesses received notions about Wagner and his work, demolishing ill-informed opinion in favour of proper critical understanding. It is a radical - and occasionally controversial - reappraisal of this most perplexing of composers. The book considers a whole range of themes, including the composer's original sources of inspiration; his fetish for exotic silks; his relationship with his wife, Cosima, and with his mistress, Mathilde Wesendonck; his anti-semitism; the operas' proto-cinematic nature; and the turbulent legacy both of the Bayreuth Festival and of Wagnerism itself. The volume's arrangement - unique among books on the composer - combines an accessible text, intriguing images and original documents in carefully co-ordinated sections, thus ensuring a consistently fresh approach.

An in-depth and approachable account of Richard Wagner's life, work and times

About the Author
Barry Millington is chief music critic for the London Evening Standard and the editor of The Wagner Journal. He has written and edited, or co-edited, seven books on Wagner, including The Wagner Compendium, The Ring of the Nibelungen: A Companion and the New Grove Guide to Wagner and his Operas.

Reviews
'An excellent book ... lavishly illustrated, with photographs and portraits of the leading participants in Wagner's astounding life ... this book should be on every budding Wagnerian's shelves' - Opera Now
'The Wagner book of the bicentenary ... sumptuous ... If you only read one book about Wagner, make it this one ... Puts the great man into context and perspective, and this is a wonderfully readable book about a musical genius. Simply fantastic' - Books Monthly
'A balanced and beautifully illustrated compendium of life and works, written in Millington's easy-to-read style' - Financial Times (Best Books of 2012)
'Exemplary lucidity whether outlining an opera plot or musical structure, unravelling a complex philosophical argument or adjudicating a contentious socio-political issue' - Opera
'The most readable of books, engagingly presented and beautifully produced - with striking illustrations on good paper that make it a pleasure to turn the pages' - Ham & High



Book Information
ISBN 9780500516430
Author Barry Millington
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
Weight(grams) 1050g