The Faber Pocket Guide to Wagner
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Review
Michael Tanner...a man whose knowledge and understanding of the Master and his works are probably unsurpassed this side of Bayreuth...His [Guide] wears his immense erudition lightly, and as such is probably the best introduction ever written to this most complex of composers.
--Daily Telegraph, April 10, 2010
A pleasure to read even for someone who thinks he knows all about Wagner...this is an immaculately proofed, elegantly stated little handbook which fulfils the Faber brief admirably.
--Daily Telegraph, April 10, 2010
A pleasure to read even for someone who thinks he knows all about Wagner...this is an immaculately proofed, elegantly stated little handbook which fulfils the Faber brief admirably.
A pleasure to read even for someone who thinks he knows all about Wagner...this is an immaculately proofed, elegantly stated little handbook which fulfils the Faber brief admirably. --BBC Music Magazine, June 2010
Book Description
An authoritative and accessible guide to the most controversial composer in history.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having bought, read, and often dipped into again, an earlier book by this authority - his 'Wagner' (1997), I bought this volume with confidence. It did not disappoint. I had not previously read much at all about the life of Wagner, and so enjoyed the first section - Wagner's Life and Character. Tanner tells it in a way that left me feeling that in spite of his flaws, I have a more sympathetic attitude to RW, and the Selective bibliography will be useful when I decide to read more about the life. The chapters on individual operas include commentaries which I enjoy, and which prompt me to listen again, perhaps with different insights, to the works. A concise, thoroughly recommendable purchase.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is really excellent. Dr Tanner's survey of Wagner and his works is informative and illuminating, and he enlivens his text with his clearly stated personal opinions. You will learn here why it's so difficult to find a DVD production of Wagner's operas that look anything like a staging that Wagner would recognise, and - as mentioned by another reviewer - the section on Wagner, Jews and Nazis is just about the most sane discussion of this subject I've seen anywhere, pointing out that this is a post WWII trend amongst academics keen to make a name for themselves, and also noting the logical inconsistencies in their arguments. There is a good summary of Wagner's life, and an introduction to each of the (mature) operas which includes a synopsis and discussion. There is also a somewhat idiosyncratic guide to Wagner on CD (I doubt that many will agree that the Solti Ring is "artistically something close to a wreck") and a good review of books on Wagner. For me, this trumps the similar volume by Millington (New Grove Wagner). Most enjoyable, even if you already have half-a-dozen other books on Wagner. Highly recommended.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dr. Tanner's book is informative and concise. The chapter on Wagner and the Nazis is tremendously helpful, and should put a stop to the endless drivellings of the Jew-spotters (Millington, Deathridge, et al.). The biography is focused; the plot synposes and analyses of the dramas are illuminating. This is probably the best introduction to Wagner on the market. In fact, the book is worth buying alone for the highly informative Bibliography and Recommended Recordings section. Hugely worthwhile.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Flawed, but well worth reading
This book is intended to be an introductory book on Wagner. Its basic structure is as follows: After a Preface and listing of "Ten Great Moments in Wagner", there is a very helpful... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. Antony F. Ornstin
Pompous
After reading the guide to Bach, I was disappointed with this guide to Wagner. The writing is leaden and the author seems to be one of those classical music buffs who delight in... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Stephen Evans
A Beginner's Delight
As a very late developer into opera, but enjoying the experience, I needed to know more about Wagner.
This book is an absolute delight. Read more
This book is an absolute delight. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Katie
An excellent introduction but with a serious self-inflicted wound
This book is (almost) everything one would expect from this author: highly readable, interesting, argumentative and largely well-judged. Read more
Published 16 months ago by S. J. Williams
Wagner made a bit easier to follow
If only every book that sets out to explain a complicated topic to the uninitiated could be modelled on this one. Read more
Published 21 months ago by D. Brewer
Brilliant
I thought Michael Tanner's first book on Wagner excellent, and I was at first apprehensive that he wouldn't find anything new to say on the subject. How wrong I was. Read more
Published 23 months ago by D. M. Purkiss
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