Wagner

An invitation to reassess one of the greatest German composers, and consider whether he merits the darkening of his image during the past 60 years. Wagner has the most villainous reputation of any figure in the arts. He is often held to have inspired Hitler's murderous anti-Semitism, and an army of ruthless mercenaries-the Wagner Group-has taken its name from him. Yet many of the worst things laid to his charge are based on misconstruction or even fabrication: on a letter he never wrote, or opinions he never expressed. Key passages in Cosima Wagner's diaries have been misinterpreted through failure to check their background. In Wagner: The Invention of a Monster, Derek Hughes re examines this controversial figure, tracing the progressive falsifications of his opinions from the 1960s to the present day. There is much new research into the early reception and understanding of his operas, and Hughes contrasts modern assessments of the composer with those current in Wagner's own era, and then during the Third Reich. Ultimately, the book reaches a perhaps surprising conclusion: many modern critics see more Nazism in Wagner than the Nazis ever did.

DEREK HUGHES is Professor Emeritus at the University of Aberdeen. He has published an array of books and articles with an operatic or theatrical focus, including Culture and Sacrifice: Ritual Death in Literature and Opera (2007), and is a consistent contributor to the Wagner Journal.

Acknowledgments Illustrations Texts and Abbreviations Section I. Rabid and Virulent 1. The Accusations 2. A Pogrom in Russia 3. A Theatre Fire Section II. The Road to 'Das Judenthum in der Musik' 4. Meyerbeer 5. Revolution 6. 'Das Judenthum in der Musik' Section III : Jewish Villains? 7. Tannhäuser and Lohengrin 8. The Ring Alberich and Mime 9. The Jew in the Thornbush 10. Parsifal. Rassenschande? Section IV: Views of Wagner to 1945 11. Alberich and Mime. Two Early Views 12. Alberich and Mime. Further Early Views 13. Die Meistersinger, from Wagner to Hitler 14. Parsifal. The Fortunes of Kundry 15. Wagner's Reputation Section V. Wagner without Sensationalism 16. Race (1) 17. Jewish Genes 18. Race (2) 19. Good Jews and Jewish Friends 20. Nationalism 21. Jews in the Press. Three Case Studies 1. Usury 2. Darabani 3. A Harsh Winter Appendix Fotor Judaïcus: A Cautionary Tale Wagner and 'the Jew Guggenheim' Bibliography