Richard Wagner had a longstanding love affair with the city of Venice. His sudden death there in 1883 also initiated a process through which Wagner and his reputation were integrated into Venice's own cumulative cultural image.
In Wagner and Venice, John Barker examines the connections between the great composer and the great city. The author traces patterns of Wagner's visits to Venice during his lifetime, considers what the city came to mean to Wagner, and investigates the details surrounding his death. Barker also examines how Venice viewed Wagner, by analyzing the landmark presentation of Wagner's Ring cycle two months after the composer's death, and by considering Venice's subsequent extensive Wagner celebrations and commemorations.
Throughout the volume, biographical detail from new and previously unavailable sources provides readers with a fresh interpretation of this seminal figure. Those already familiar with Wagner's life will find new information about, and insights into, the man and his career, while simultaneously discovering a neglected corner of Italian and Venetian cultural history.
John W. Barker is emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, specializing in medieval (including Venetian) history. He is also a passionate music lover and record collector, and an active music critic and journalist.
Reviews
[Barker's translation of source documents] maintain[s] the styles of their authors or reporters. It cannot thus get any closer to what could be considered 'the truth'.--WAGNER NEWS (TORONTO) [Richard Rosenman]Bracingly skeptical if sympathetic. . . . Vivid [documents of the era reveal that] . . . Italian understanding, if not approval, of the Wagnerian revolution was already impressively acute. --MUSIC & LETTERS [Arnold Whittall]
A huge amount of material not previously available first-hand observations and analyses. The amount of detail here is astonishing. Forty-six black-and-white photos bring people and places to life. . . . A loving tribute to Wagner and Venice. --AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE [Charles H. Parsons]
[Barker's] impressively researched book is well crafted and highly absorbing. . . . The author's narrative skill allows him to avoid repetition and academic jargon while painting full portraits of a fascinating cast of characters. . . . Well-chosen illustrations enhance the reader's experience. --OPERA NEWS ONLINE
Throughout his book Barker makes effective use of newspaper archives. . . . Barker's 'assimilative source study' has now largely filled the critical gap [regarding the disputed biographical documents collected in 1883 by Henriette Perl]. . . . [The book is marked by] the author's palpable enthusiasm for and knowledge of both Wagner and Venice. --MUSICAL TIMES [David Cormack]
[Gives] a real sense of how Venice itself interacted with the composer's creative consciousness. . . . A vital source. . . . pioneering work. --THE WAGNER JOURNAL [David Conway]
It was in Venice that Wagner composed much of the second act of Tristan und Isolde, with its ecstatic love duet, and it was in Venice that he died two and a half decades later. Charting the composer's own love affair with La Serenissima over that period has been the quarter-of-a-century mission of John W. Barker, who sifts the plethora of eye-witness accounts with a forensic skill that brings to light all manner of fascinating documentary detail. A book to be relished by lovers of Wagner, of Venice, or of both. --Barry Millington, Author of Wagner, editor of The Wagner Compendium, and coeditor of Selected Letters of Richard Wagner
