Cosima Wagner : the lady of Bayreuth / Oliver Hilmes ; translated by Stewart Spencer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hilmes, Oliver.

Contributor:

Spencer, Stewart.

Standardized Title:

Herrin des Hugels. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wagner, Cosima, 1837-1930.

Wagner, Cosima.

Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883.

Wagner, Richard.

Wagner family.

Bayreuther Festspiele.

Opera producers and directors--Germany--Bayreuth--Biography.

Opera producers and directors.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (354 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

A childhood without parents (1837-55)

A marriage of convenience (1855-64)

Wagner (1864-83)

The first lady of Bayreuth (1883-1900)

A new era (1900-14)

The long end (1914-30).

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [349]-354) and index.

ISBN:

0-300-16823-3

OCLC:

811402662