Overview

An investigation of the considerable influence of Wagner's stay in Zurich from 1849 to 1858 -- a period often discounted by scholars -- on his career. When the people of Dresden rose up against their king in May 1849, Richard Wagner went from Royal Kapellmeister to republican revolutionary overnight. He gambled everything, but the rebellion failed, and he lost all. Now a wantedman in Germany, he fled to Zurich. Years later, he wrote that the city was ""devoid of any public art form"" and full of ""simple people who knew nothing of my work as an artist."" But he lied: Zurich boasted arguably the world's greatest concentration of radical intellectuals and a vibrant music scene. Wagner was accepted with open arms. This book investigates Wagner's affect on the musical life of the city and the city's impact on him. Mathilde Wesendonck emerges not as Wagner's passive muse but as a self-assured woman who exploited gender expectations to her own benefit. In 1858, Wagner had to flee Zurich after again gambling everything -- this time on Mathilde -- and again losing.But it was in Zurich that Wagner wrote his major theoretical works; composed Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and parts of Siegfried and Tristan und Isolde; first planned Parsifal; held the first festival of his music; and conceived of a theater to stage his own works. If Wagner had been free in 1849 to choose a city in which to seek heightened intellectual stimulation among the like-minded and the similarly gifted, he could have come to nomore perfect place. Chris Walton teaches music history at the Musikhochschule Basel in Switzerland. He is the recipient of the 2010 Max Geilinger Prize honoring exemplary contributions to the literary and cultural relationship between Switzerland and the English-speaking world.

Full Product Details

9781571133311

Table of Contents

Reviews

Just when one thinks everything that could possibly be written about Wagner has been written, along comes a new point of view.... There are real surprises here and many an obscurity brightened up or revealed .... The writing is erudite... an important addition to the Wagner bibliography. AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE The connections and meetings among contemporary composers such as Hunerwadel, Baumgartner, Eschmann and Wagner that Walton brings out are striking, (as are) the similarities that he establishes between Wagner and Brahms, like Wagner a friend of Swiss landscape and culture. SCHWEIZER MUSIKZEITUNG Walton's deep knowledge of his subject allows him to draw subtle and unexpected connections throughout.... meticulously researched and highly readable...packed with information and insight on a crucial decade of Wagner's life: a must-buy for Wagner scholars and enthusiasts. THE WAGNER JOURNAL Filling in many gaps ..., (this book) has the feel of freshly discovered research materials.... In a detailed analysis of (Mathilde Wesendonck's) relationship with Wagner ... Walton presents the convincing (and still quite novel) view that, far from being Wagner's white piece of paper, she became an important sounding-board for (his) plans and theories. GRAMOPHONE (Examines) details of extant scores and orchestral parts from Wagner's performances of, for instance, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony ... almost recreating in our minds a few moments from actual concerts. This chapter was thrilling from start to finish. MUSIC & LETTERS Anyone interested in Wagner the man and composer should seek out this work. NOTES (Walton's) virtuoso knowledge of day-to-day data enables (him) to trace in detail Wagner's dealings with musicians, publishers and others, with some surprising conclusions about Wagner the man and artist. .. His depth of research, his discovery of important aspects of Wagner's Zurich period, and his comments o depth of research, his discovery of important aspects of Wagner's Zurich period, and his comments on the music, stylistic rather than analytical, enrich us with a fuller than ever picture of

Just when one thinks everything that could possibly be written about Richard Wagner has been written, along comes a new point of view... There are some real surprises here and many an obscurity brightened up or revealed for the first time. The writing is erudite. It is an important addition to the Wagner bibliography. --Parsons, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, Jan/Feb 2008 The connections and meetings among contemporary composers such as Fanny Hunerwadel, Wilhelm Baumgartner, Johann Carl Eschmann and Wagner that Walton brings out are striking. And striking too are the similarities that he establishes between Wagner and Johannes Brahms, like Wagner a friend of Swiss landscape and culture. SCHWEIZER MUSIKZEITUNG Walton displays a deep knowledge of his subject which allows him to draw subtle and unexpected connections throughout...The book is both meticulously researched and highly readable...packed with information and insight on a crucial decade of Wagner's life: a must-buy for Wagner scholars and enthusiasts. THE WAGNER JOURNAL Chris Walton's new study fruitfully examines the relationship between Wagner and Zurich: the influence of the city's intellectual community on Wagner and the lasting legacy he bequeathed it. His valuable research into Otto and Mathilde Wesendonck should occasion a radical reassessment of the stereotypical views that have traditionally attached themselves to Wagner's relationship with his patrons. --Barry Millington, author of Wagner, editor of The Wagner Compendium, and co-editor of Selected Letters of Richard Wagner The merit of Walton's book lies precisely in its biographical focus, avoiding interpretation of the operas and their possible ideological or theoretical underpinnings. The study is all about Wagner as person and musician, and in the years, and at the place, that were so crucial in his development as a fully mature artist. Walton's readers will come away with the feeling that they have gotten to know Wagner the man and artist a good deal better through a proper understanding and assessment of his life in Zurich. --James M. McGlathery, professor emeritus of German, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and author of Wagner's Operas and Desire

Author Information

CHRIS WALTON teaches music history at the Basel Academy of Music in Switzerland, is an Honorary Professor at Africa Open Institute (Stellenbosch University in South Africa) and runs a research project at the Bern Academy of the Arts for the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available