- Gutman, Robert W. Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind, and His Music.
New York: Harcourt, 1968. xx, 490p. ML410 .W1 G83.
The author states his purpose: “to see Wagner in terms of ideas—of cultural
history.” He aims at nonspecialists, however, and offers what is essentially a
chronological life story, without reference footnotes and dominated by discus-
sion of the prose writings. Gutman is uneasy in the face of macrostructural
questions about the music: “one can feel, not demonstrate, the strength of his
formal logic.” The Lorenz demonstrations are “protracted and tortuous.”
Excellent bibliography of about 500 items, expansive index.
A useful supplement to the regular biographies:
- Mack, Dietrich, and Egon Voss. Richard Wagner: Leben und Werk in Daten
und Bildern.Frankfurt: Insel, 1978. 271p. ISBN 345-8320-342. ML410 .S196
R51.
A picture book, consisting of 206 plates with commentaries. Shows Wagner’s
scores, manuscripts, places, programs, and persons. Good detailed chronology
and list of the prose works. No index. - Wagner, Cosima. Cosima Wagner’s Diaries. Ed. and annotated Martin Grego-
Dellin and Dietrich Mack. Trans. with an introduction by Geoffrey Skelton.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977–1978. 2v. ISBN 0-15-122635-0.
ML410 .W11 C5253.
The original was Cosima Wagner: Die Tagebücher, 1869–1877, 1878–1883
(Munich: Piper, 1976–1977). Her daily jottings concern domestic matters to
some degree but also bring hundreds of vignettes of her husband and his
remarks—giving a highly personal impression of his contorted character and
extravagant biases. The English version benefits from scholarly annotations by
Skelton. List of works cited, name index.
Operas in General
Production and reception
- Osborne, Charles. The World Theater of Wagner: A Celebration of 150 Years
of Wagner Productions.New York: Macmillan, 1982. 224p. ISBN 0-02-
594050-3. MT100 .W2082.
An illustrated narrative account of productions in major cities of the world,
with biographical sketches of important individuals involved. Name and title
index. - Petzet, Michael, and Detta Petzet. Die Richard Wagner Bühne König Ludwigs
II. Munich: Prestel, 1970. 840p. ML410 .W11 P5.
Documents of the Munich premieres and early stagings of nine operas there,
and of Parsifalat Bayreuth, with much production detail. The views of King
Ludwig are summarized, and there is a presentation of miscellaneous corre-
spondence and essays. With 771 fine plates. Name index. - Millington, Barry, and Stewart Spencer. Wagner in Performance.New Haven,
Conn.: Yale U.P., 1992. x, 214p. ISBN 0-300-05718-0. ML410 .W19 W12.
372 Opera