Interpreting Wagner

Rating:
Summary: Excellent entrance in Wagner for non-specialists
Review: First off, Treadwell is sole author, not editor of this readable and fascinating study of what's happening within Wagner's operas and his writings about them. As one of the many thousands of persons hooked on "The Ring" operas and puzzled by their peculiar power, I wanted to find a study of this which did not require specialized musical training, and was written without jargon. Treadwell does a fine job of discerning themes he calls: romance, revolution, exile and religion. I recommend the book for its thoughtful examination of this topic, at a very different level than a book written for musicologists and also very different than internet chat discussions of "Why does Kundry die at the end?"