The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family
by Jonathan Carr
A family saga as riveting as any opera, and a matchless mirror of Germanys rise, fall, and resurrection. Richard Wagner was many thingscomposer, philosopher, philanderer, failed revolutionary, and virulent anti-Semiteand his descendants have carried on his complex legacy. Now, in The Wagner Clan, biographer Jonathan Carr retraces the path of the renowned composer and his descendants. Along the way, Carr offers glimpses of Franz Liszt (whose illegitimate daughter Cosima married Wagner); Friedrich Nietzsche; Arthur Schopenhauer; Alberto Toscanini; Joseph Goebbels; Hermann Göring; and the Wolf himself, Adolf Hitler, a passionate fan of the Masters music and an adopted uncle to Wagners grandchildren.
Wagners British-born daughter-in-law, Winifred, was a close friend of Hitlers and seemed momentarily positioned to marry him after the death of her husband. All through the war the Bayreuth Festival, begun by the Master himself, was supported by Hitler, who had to fill out the meager audience with fighting men and SS officers. After the war, the festival was dark for a decade until Wagners offspringwith characteristic ambition and cunningrevived it.
"Starred Review. Carr's sprightly, fluent narrative places the family in its historical and intellectual context without reducing it to the symbolic effigy it has often become." - Publishers Weekly.
"Starred Review." - Kirkus Reviews.
"The Wagner legacy is as much a drama as that of the life of the composer himself. An excellent read for academic and large public libraries." - Library Journal
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