Richard Wagner And the Jews

by Brener, Milton E.

• ISBN13: 9780786423705
• ISBN10: 0786423706
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-30
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

It is well known that Richard Wagner, the renowned and controversial 19th century composer, exhibited intense anti-Semitism. The evidence is everywhere in his writings as well as in conversations his second wife recorded in her diaries. In his infamous essay "Judaism in Music," Wagner forever cemented his unpleasant reputation with his assertion that Jews were incapable of either creating or appreciating great art. Wagner's close ties with many talented Jews, then, are surprising. Most writers have dismissed these connections as cynical manipulations and rank hypocrisy. Examination of the original sources, however, reveals something different: unmistakeable, undeniable empathy and friendship between Wagner and the Jews in his life. Indeed, the composer had warm relationships with numerous individual Jews. Two of them resided frequently over extended periods in his home. One of these, the rabbi's son Hermann Levi, conducted Wagner's final opera-Parsifal, based on Christian legend-at Wagner's request; no one, Wagner declared, understood his work so well. Even in death his Jewish friends were by his side; two were among his twelve pallbearers. The contradictions between Wagner's antipathy toward the amorphous entity "The Jews" and his genuine friendships with individual Jews are the subject of this book. Drawing on extensive sources in both German and English, including Wagner's autobiography and diary and the diaries of his second wife, this comprehensive treatment of Wagner's anti-Semitism is the first to place it in perspective with his life and work. Included in the text are portions of unpublished letters exchanged between Wagner and Hermann Levi. Altogether, the book reveals astonishing complexities in a man long known as much for his prejudice as for his epic contributions to opera.

Author Biography

Retired attorney Milton E. Brener has written books and numerous articles, and has lectured and published on opera as well as art history. He was a performance reviewer of New Orleans area performances for the New York Metropolitan Opera Magazine Opera News and for Opera Canada. He is also the author of Vanishing Points (2004). He lives in Jefferson, Louisiana.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	x
Preface	1	(4)
A Note on Translation	5	(4)
Part I. Zurich
1 The Asyl	9	(9)
2 The Fugitive	18	(5)
3 Minna	23	(9)
4 The Paris Jews	32	(6)
5 The Essay	38	(12)
6 Tausig	50	(11)
Part II. Paris and Vienna
7 The Break with Minna	61	(6)
8 Tristan and Isolde	67	(4)
9 Tannhauser in Paris	71	(6)
10 Vienna	77	(3)
11 Penury	80	(6)
12 Biebrich on the Rhine	86	(3)
13 The Vienna Jews	89	(7)
14 Flight from Creditors	96	(9)
Part III. Munich
15 King Ludwig	105	(3)
16 Cosima	108	(9)
17 The First Tristan	117	(8)
18 Exile from Munich	125	(8)
Part IV. Lucerne
19 Triebschen	133	(9)
20 Die Meistersinger	142	(4)
21 Cosima's Diaries	146	(4)
22 "Judaism in Music": The Second Publication	150	(6)
23 Das Rheingold Brouhaha	156	(6)
24 The Turn of Die Walküre	162	(4)
25 Wagner and the French	166	(5)
26. Death of Tausig	171	(10)
Part V. Bayreuth I: The First Festival
27 Rubinstein and Preparations for The Ring	181	(8)
28 The Scapegoats	189	(5)
29 The First Festival	194	(8)
30 Neumann	202	(11)
Part VI. Bayreuth II: Levi and Neumann
31 The Young Hermann Levi	213	(8)
32 The Brahms-Levi Friendship	221	(5)
33 The Breach with Brahms	226	(6)
34 A Study in Malice	232	(4)
35 Declining Health, Worsening Temperament	236	(5)
36 The Strangest Synagogue	241	(5)
37 Distance from Porges, Closeness to Rubinstein	246	(10)
38 Neumann and the Berlin Ring	256	(6)
39 Neumann and the Traveling Wagner Opera Company	262	(7)
Part VII. Bayreuth III: The Second Festival
40 Levi and Parsifal	269	(6)
41 Lichtenberg and the Knieses	275	(11)
42 Wagnerphobia	286	(6)
43 Glimpses of the Other Side	292	(5)
44 The Final Days	297	(4)
Appendix: "Judaism in Music"	301	(16)
Chapter Notes	317	(6)
References	323	(4)
Index	327