Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Richard Wagner is remembered as one of the most influential figures in music and theater, but his place in history has been marked by a considerable amount of controversy. His attitudes toward the Jews and the appropriation of his operas by the Nazis, for example, have helped to construct a historical persona that sits uncomfortably with modern sensibilities. Yet Wagner’s absolutely central position in the operatic canon continues. This volume serves as a timely reminder of his ongoing musical, cultural, and political impact. Contributions by specialists from such varied fields as musical history, German literature and cultural studies, opera production, and political science consider a range of topics, from trends and problems in the history of stage production to the representations of nation, race, and sexuality. With the inclusion of invaluable and reliably up-to-date biographical data, this collection will be of great interest to scholars, students, and enthusiasts. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information The Cambridge Companion to WAGNER ............................ EDITED BY Thomas S. Grey © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Camridge University Press is part of the Univeristy of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521644396 © Cambridge University Press 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2008 5th printing 2014 Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc. A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-521-64299-6 Hardback ISBN 978-0-521-64439-6 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information Contents List of illustrations page vii Notes on contributors ix Preface and acknowledgements xiii Chronology xvii List of abbreviations xxxvii PART I Biographical and historical contexts 1 1 Wagner lives: issues in autobiography John Deathridge 3 2 Meister Richard’s apprenticeship: the early operas (1833–1840) Thomas S. Grey 18 3 To the Dresden barricades: the genesis of Wagner’s political ideas Mitchell Cohen 47 PART II Opera, music, drama 65 4 The “Romantic operas” and the turn to myth Stewart Spencer 67 5 Der Ring des Nibelungen: conception and interpretation Barry Millington 74 6 Leitmotif, temporality, and musical design in the Ring Thomas S. Grey 85 7 Tristan und Isolde: essence and appearance John Daverio 115 8 Performing Germany in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Stephen McClatchie 134 9 Parsifal: redemption and Kunstreligion Glenn Stanley 151 PART III Ideas and ideology in the Gesamtkunstwerk 177 10 The urge to communicate: the prose writings as theory and practice James Treadwell 179 11 Critique as passion and polemic: Nietzsche and Wagner Dieter Borchmeyer 192 12 The Jewish question Thomas S. Grey 203 [v] © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information vi Contents PART IV After Wagner: influence and interpretation 219 13 “Wagnerism”: responses to Wagner in music and the arts Annegret Fauser 221 14 Wagner and the Third Reich: myths and realities Pamela M. Potter 235 15 Wagner on stage: aesthetic, dramaturgical, and social considerations Mike Ashman 246 16 Criticism and analysis: current perspectives Arnold Whittall 276 Notes 290 Select bibliography 328 Index 338 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information Illustrations 15.1. Götterdämmerung, Act 3 (conclusion): stage design by Josef Hoffmann for the first Bayreuth festival, 1876. page 247 15.2. Der fliegende Holländer: design for the Dutchman’s ship by Ewald Dülberg for the Kroll Opera, Berlin, 1929. 250 15.3. Die Walküre, Act 3: directed and designed by Wolfgang Wagner; Bayreuth festival, 1960. 253 15.4. Siegfried, Act 3 (final scene): directed and designed by Wieland Wagner; Bayreuth festival, 1951. 253 15.5. Tristan und Isolde, Act 3: directed and designed by Wieland Wagner; Bayreuth festival, 1962. 255 15.6. Götterdämmerung, Act 2: directed and designed by Wieland Wagner; Bayreuth festival, 1965. 255 15.7. Götterdämmerung, Act 3 (Wotan grieves during the funeral music for the slain Siegfried): directed by Joachim Herz, designed by Rudolf Heinrich; Leipzig, 1975. 257 15.8. Die Meistersinger, Act 3 (the festival meadow): directed by Joachim Herz, designed by Rudolf Heinrich; Leipzig, 1960. 258 15.9. Die Meistersinger, Act 3 (the festival meadow): directed and designed by Wieland Wagner; Bayreuth festival, 1964. 258 15.10. Götterdämmerung, Act 1: Siegfried (Jean Cox) drinks the potion of forgetfulness, watched by Gutrune (Hanna Lisowska) and the reflection of Hagen (Bengt Rundgren); directed by Götz Friedrich, designed by Josef Svoboda; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1976. 260 15.11. Die Walküre: Gwyneth Jones as Brünnhilde; directed by Götz Friedrich, designed by Josef Svoboda, costumes by Ingrid Rosell; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1977. 260 15.12. Siegfried, Act 1: René Kollo as Siegfried and Heinz Zednik as Mime; directed by Patrice Chéreau, designed by Richard Peduzzi; Bayreuth festival, 1976. 262 15.13. Siegfried, Act 1 (forging scene): directed by Patrice Chéreau, designed by Richard Peduzzi; Bayreuth festival, 1976. 262 15.14. Der fliegende Holländer, Act 1: directed by Harry Kupfer, designed by Peter Sykora; Bayreuth festival, 1978. 264 [vii] © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information viii List of illustrations 15.15. Parsifal, Act 1: Kundry (Gail Gilmore) lying with Amfortas (John Bröcheler), as narrated by Gurnemanz; directed by Ruth Berghaus, designed by Axel Manthey; Frankfurt, 1982. 266 15.16. Das Rheingold, scene 2: directed by Richard Jones, designed by Nigel Lowery; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1994. 268 15.17. Siegfried, Act 3 (final scene): directed by Richard Jones, designed by Nigel Lowery; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1996. 268 15.18. Götterdämmerung, Act 3: directed by Richard Jones, designed by Nigel Lowery; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1996. 269 15.19. Götterdämmerung, Act 3: directed by David Alden, designed by Gideon Davey; Munich, Bavarian State Opera, 2003. Photograph © Wilfried Hoesl 271 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-64299-6 — The Cambridge Companion to Wagner Edited by Thomas S. Grey Frontmatter More Information Notes on contributors Mike Ashman is active as both a stage director and a writer on opera performance. He has produced for Opera Zuid and the Royal College of Music Opera School, and has served as staff director of the Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His directorial work focuses on nineteenth- and twentieth- century repertories, including a Ring cycle for Den Norske Opera and a touring version of Tristan und Isolde. He has contributed chapters to Wagner in Performance (1992) and Verdi in Performance (2001). Dieter Borchmeyer is Professor Emeritus of Modern German Literature and Theater at the University of Heidelberg and president of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. His work encompasses German literature of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, including the intersection of theater, music, and opera. Among his numerous publications concerning Richard Wagner are Das Theater Richard Wagners: Idee – Dichtung – Wirkung (1982; trans. Stewart Spencer as Richard Wagner: Theory and Theatre,1991),Die Götter tanzen Cancan: Richard Wagners Liebesrevolten (1992), Das Tribschener Idyll: Nietzsche – Cosima – Wagner. Eine Textcollage (1998), Drama and the World of Richard Wagner (2003), and an edition of Wagner’s collected writings