Wagner has the most villainous reputation of any figure in the arts. He is often held to have inspired Hitler's murderous anti-Semitism, and an army of ruthless mercenaries—the Wagner Group—has taken its name from him. Yet many of the worst things laid to his charge are based on misconstruction or even fabrication: on a letter he never wrote, or opinions he never expressed. Key passages in Cosima Wagner's diaries have been misinterpreted through failure to check their background.





In Wagner: The Invention of a Monster, Derek Hughes re-examines this controversial figure, tracing the progressive falsifications of his opinions from the 1960s to the present day. There is much new research into the early reception and understanding of his operas, and Hughes contrasts modern assessments of the composer with those current in Wagner's own era, and then during the Third Reich. Ultimately, the book reaches a perhaps surprising conclusion: many modern critics see more Nazism in Wagner than the Nazis ever did.





Wagner: The Invention of a Monster is an invitation to reassess one of the greatest German composers, and consider whether he merits the darkening of his image during the past 60 years.



Derek Hughes is Professor Emeritus at the University of Aberdeen. He has published an array of books and articles with an operatic or theatrical focus, including Culture and Sacrifice: Ritual Death in Literature and Opera (2007), and is a consistent contributor to the Wagner Journal. Derek is married and has one daughter and two step-children; he enjoys foreign languages, music, cycling and cooking.



Acknowledgments



Illustrations



Texts and Abbreviations





Section I. Rabid and Virulent



Chapter 1: The Accusations



Chapter 2: A Pogrom in Russia



Chapter 3: A Theatre Fire





Section II. The Road to 'Das Judenthum in der Musik'



Chapter 4: Meyerbeer



Chapter 5: Revolution



Chapter 6: 'Das Judenthum in der Musik'





Section III : Jewish Villains?



Chapter 7: Tannhäuser and Lohengrin



Chapter 8: The Ring Alberich and Mime



Chapter 9: The Jew in the Thornbush



Chapter 10: Parsifal. Rassenschande?





Section IV: Views of Wagner to 1945



Chapter 11: Alberich and Mime. Two Early Views



Chapter 12: Alberich and Mime. Further Early Views



Chapter 13: Die Meistersinger, from Wagner to Hitler



Chapter 14: Parsifal. The Fortunes of Kundry



Chapter 15: Wagner's Reputation





Section V. Wagner without Sensationalism



Chapter 16: Race (1)



Chapter 17: Jewish Genes



Chapter 18: Race (2)



Chapter 19: Good Jews and Jewish Friends



Chapter 20: Nationalism



Chapter 21: Jews in the Press. Three Case Studies



1. Usury



2. Darabani



3. A Harsh Winter





Appendix



Fœtor Judaïcus: A Cautionary Tale



Wagner and 'the Jew Guggenheim'



Bibliography