Cosima Wagner: The Lady of Bayreuth
Search in google:
In this meticulously researched book, Oliver Hilmes paints a fascinating and revealing picture of the extraordinary Cosima Wagner—illegitimate daughter of Franz Liszt, wife of the conductor Hans von Bülow, then mistress and subsequently wife of Richard Wagner. After Wagner’s death in 1883 Cosima played a crucial role in the promulgation and politicization of his works, assuming control of the Bayreuth Festival and transforming it into a shrine to German nationalism. The High Priestess of the Wagnerian cult, Cosima lived on for almost fifty years, crafting the image of Richard Wagner through her organizational ability and ideological tenacity.The first book to make use of the available documentation at Bayreuth, this biography explores the achievements of this remarkable and obsessive woman while illuminating a still-hidden chapter of European cultural history. Wall Street Journal “Absorbing.”--Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal — Norman Lebrecht
List of IllustrationsPrologue1 A Childhood Without Parents (1837-55) 1Ann b1 ses de P b4 slerinage 1The Joys of Love 2The Sorrows of Love 4Years of Happiness 10The Princess 14Brainwashing 18Changes 272 A Marriage of Convenience (1855-64) 34From Bad to Worse? 34Self-deception 37A Journey into the Future 43Coffee Mornings in Berlin 47Storm Clouds 53On the Run 60Redemption 66Last-minute Panic 703 Wagner (1864-83) 77Tristan and Isolde 77Power and Influence 84Intrigues in Munich 91Involuntary Exile 93Decisions 101Guilt and Atonement 104Human, All Too human 112The Early Reich 120Daily Life in Wahnfried 127First Night 132An Uncertain Future 140Mephisto Waltz 146Death in Venice 1504 The First Lady of Bayreuth (1883-1900) 157Trials and Tribulations 157Friends and Assistants 164Light and Shade 169Crocodile Tears 178A Change of Direction 182The Year of the Three Kaisers 186The Bayreuth Circle 195Family Planning 201Oedipus Rex? 205La Grande Dame 211Gone to the Dogs 2175 A New Era (1900-14) 224Parsifal Mania 225Iconoclasm 237Regime Change 243Rabble 254Escalation 263Dusk Falls on the Royalties 272Tate le Corde 2756 The Long End (1914-30) 285World Conflagration 285Life During the First World War 290An Austrian in Bayreuth 300A Living Monument 304Finale Lamentoso 310Epilogue 312Acknowledgements 315Notes 317Bibliography 349Index 355
