Rating: 
Summary: Once you get past the Schopenauer and Nietzche love fest...
Review: ... this is really quite a terrific read. I picked this up based on Magee's reputation in the world of Philosophy, and figured I'd learn a lot, first about Wagner, and then about opera. Magee's work satisfies enormously on all these accounts. Magee clearly loves what he is undertaking and the joy and enthusiasm carry the narrative long with a passionate flow. What was at work in the writings, and to some extent in the life, of Wagner is presented witha clarity and precision that illuminates just how revolutionary and uncompromising a genius Wagner was. The book builds, rightfully, to PARSIFAL, and the radical departure that opera was on a philosophical as well as operatic level. PARSIFAL is the music that endeared me to Knappertsbusch, it is the music that infused Inspector Morse, it is where man's spirituality is relieved of the weight of so much hierarchical baggage and set free, as near an ecstatic experience as is possible to achieve in music, and Magee gets it right in every detail.
Of course, along the way, you have to endure the love fest with Schopenauer and Nietzche, against whom, for Magee, all other writers in Philosophy, and especially Hegel, are anathema. Typically British in that respect, Magee none the less delivers brief and informative scribs on the philosophical directions of these 2 writers, and how they intersect with Wagner.
Magee saves the most controversial element for the last, that being Wagner's anti-semitism. In what is certainly a valid inquiry, Magee asks what role should any author's prejudices play in evaluating the art if there is no evidence of it in his art. Magee is no apologist for Wagner's roaring and overbearing personality, regardless against whom it is directed, and certainly points out that Wagner was an unabashed anti-semite. Yet he still relegates the discussion itself to an "Appendix." Not entirely cricket. The point that Wagner's operas feature no invectives, no insulting characters, nothing patently directed at anyone other than the powerful, the bourgeoisie, the hierarchies in religion and society, still does not satisfactorily resolve the bad taste in the mouth that the Wagner legacy has left. If you happened to be in that class that he inveighed against in the operas, then you got what was coming to you from Wagner's standpoint. His personal distastes he managed to keep out of his art. So, is it all guilt by association? Largely, to Magee. Odd, though, when you consider the castigation Heidegger went through, having uttered 2 extraordnarily stupid oratories, yet resigning his post when it dawned on him what was going on. Perhaps it is the fact that Wagner's progeny couldn't restrain themselves from blowing kisses to Adolf that will forever rub people the wrong way. The music, especially by the time it got to PARSIFAL, stands on its own. We will have to deal with that on its own terms. Magee's book is an exacting look at those terms and worth the read by anyone with a love for great music.
Rating: 
Summary: Remarkable in Every Way; Brushes Away Many Cobwebs
Review: Contrary to most Wagner "scholars," Bryan Magee possesses keen insight into the various branches of knowledge which are a sine qua non for coming to terms with the composer's gargantuan achievements: philosophy, music, literature, and political history. Magee has taught philosophy at the university level, served as a member of the British Parliament, and been employed as a critic of both opera and the theater. His credentials are impeccable; his intellect is capacious; and his gift for clarity and lucidity tend to make him something of an anomaly amongst other Wagner commentators. In fact, just when you thought there was little or nothing left to say about Wagner's legacy, along comes Magee with his brilliant book that not only provides remarkable insight into the subject at hand, but which also seriously brings into question other generally accepted "truths" about the composer's legacy. In short, uputdownable -- an indispensable work.
Rating:
Summary: Aesthetic states...
Review: I read this at the same time as J. Kholer's Wagner's Hitler (q.v.) and the result was partial dialectical collision. It is difficult to know how to take Wagner in the midst of so much revisionist detective work. But Magee's book is, in the realm of pure Wagner limbo, a splendidly done piece which shows Wagner to be one of the most complex and significant figures of the nineteenth century. This is not the same as the usual oulala about genius since Wagner and Nietzsche both did a lot of bungled work, among them fixing culturally inadequate views of tragedy. They both failed their own tests, and if you can't figure out the essence of Greek tragedy you can end up in the middle of one yourself. Worth keeping in mind in the tiresome eulogies of these two failures of genius. What a waste.
As a musical peon in the Verdi bleachers with the old rotten cabbage in reserve I can do without hagiographies of this period, but find the subject interesting in a different way. With the Marx brothers A Night At The Opera under one's belt maybe the right methodology to deal with all this is at hand: this complete shambles is important!
Thus it is worth looking at a book such as Josef Chytry's The Aesthetic State for a history of the context of attempts to produce a tragic theatre, and/or the Gesantkuntswerk that Wagner so heroically pursued. But in the context of the overall history which starts with the ancient Greeks the question (which haunted Hegel) is why modern society simply can't match that great other chord of the 'aesthetic state' proceeding from Homer to Euripides. Here Wagner, good or bad, fails his own test, but is the most remarkable self-appointed guinea pig putting the whole issue to a test. It is hard to believe a man of such talents and heroic endeavors could be so unlucky as to fall into the whole occult shebant leading into the emergence of the lunatic far right. Watching him fail is significant in itself, especially next to the stupefying things he manage to accomplish in the process.
But in the final analysis, Wagner was coopted by the society he was and we see a great success in the middle of a great fiasco.
Anyway, Magee's book is a really good snapshot of Wagner. It is good to see the bright side first in trying to get the riddle of Wagner straight.
Rating:
Summary: A work of genius
Review: Magee's book on Wagner is brilliant. He puts Wagner's ideas in perspective in the tradition of German philosophy and intellectual history (Feuerback, Schopenhauer, Hegel, etc.). The writing is lucid and enjoyable. Having read this book, I have a much deeper appreciation of Wagner, the man and his music. It is hard to recommend Magee's text highly enough. This book is illuminating, exciting, fun, and absorbing -- I found it hard to put down. No Wagner lover should be without it.
Rating:
Summary: Critical to Understanding Wagner
Review: Most of the major secondary material about the intellectual influences on, and influence of, Wagner, refer to philosophy and Schopenhauer in particular. Magee cogently argues that these ideas were not just influential, but central to, Wagner's art. In particular, Magee shows that all Wagner's work after Tristan is deeply infused with Schopenhauerian epistomology and ethics. No other work that I have read so clearly and completely explains this seminal influence on Wagner.Magee writes energetic prose without sacrificing any depth of analysis. I cannot recommend this book too highly to the following: 1) Wagner lovers 2) those interested in late 19th century intellectual history 3) those interested in philosophy 4) anyone who wants to know more about one of the most important thinkers of the last hundred and fifty years.
Rating:
Summary: Wagner: Not a Proto-Nazi
Review: One of the most brilliantly argued defenses of Richard Wagner I've ever come across. The genius composer is not the proto-Nazi that many make him out to be (having hobnobbed with Bakunin, Proudhon and other anarchists early on in his career) The author sets out to show that the philosophers Kant and Schoepenhauer had a profound influence on Wagner's music, esp, the Ring and Tristan and Isolde operas. I commend this author for his courage in defending one of the greatest composers of all time. May all PC hacks wither away and die in Wagner's eternal genius light. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Wagner: Not a Proto-Nazi
Review: One of the most brilliantly argued defenses of Richard Wagner I've ever come across. The genius composer is not the proto-Nazi that many make him out to be (having hobnobbed with Bakunin, Proudhon and other anarchists early on in his career) The author sets out to show that the philosophers Kant and Schoepenhauer had a profound influence on Wagner's music, esp, the Ring and Tristan and Isolde operas. I commend this author for his courage in defending one of the greatest composers of all time. May all PC hacks wither away and die in Wagner's eternal genius light. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Art is everything that transforms you
Review: Pierre Boulez's famous definition of art is the first thought that came to my mind after reading this book. Not only because of the author�s analytic description of Wagner's (above all things) transfigurational and revolutionary art but in which the book changed my way of listening and loving Wagner's work. I am a long time Wagnerite (big, big fan!) and have always taken the study of Wagner's work seriously. For a long time, I had my unchangeable list of my favorite Wagner operas and I had a million of reasons for adoring each work and preferring this to the other. Not only did Magee�s Tristan give me many more reasons to love each of Wagner's operas but he, for the first time, changed my list of preference (and I�ll tell you I am a stubborn fellow). Though it did not turn my preferences list upside down, it made me love Tristan (not that Tristan is Magee's favorite work) above all other Wagner's works, in lieu of Die Walkure, which had been placed in my predilection as Wagner�s first and foremost magnum opus. This book is an absolute analysis of the intellectual bricks that comprise each of Wagner's works and the philosophical mortar that binds all his thoughts together. The author has an unbiased and honest approach towards sensitive subjects such as Wagner's anti-Semitism and his relationship with Nietzsche. He masters these two issues with a skill that I had never seen before and, above all, with an intellectually honest approach which is sometimes hard to keep before such gut-sensitive matters. Mr. Magee has a profound knowledge of philosophical thinking and has proved to be a first class connoisseur of Wagner's music, drama and history. The work is the result of an intricate work of factual research and is laid down in paper with a superbly written prose. What a book!!! Brian Magee deserves all the praise for his work, which will deserve a place in my shelf of favorite books...
Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading for Any Wagner Lover
Review: The Tristan Chord is a brilliant exploration of the evolutionary nexus between Wagner's political and philosophical beliefs, and the momunental works of art he created. For me the finest part of the book is the very detailed examination of the philosophy of Schopenhauer and it's extraordinary impact on the composer. To be able to write on such a complex subject and to do it in such a completely compelling and readable way is an amazing achievement. Essential reading for a deepening understanding of Wagner's oeuvre.
Rating:
Summary: Fun to read, even
Review: This book is an investigation of the relationship between Wagner's art and his intellect. Bryan Magee, who has been both an academic philosopher and a music critic, is uniquely qualified to describe this relationship. The book is based on Magee's careful analysis of both Wagner's music and Wagner's voluminous writings, including his autobiographical works, letters, and polemical writings on art theory. Magee is also an expert on 19th century German philosophy. Magee presents Wagner as both a great creative artist and a substantial self-conscious intellectual. Magee shows that Wagner made a conscious effort to shape his art to match philosophical/ideological concerns. Wagner's philosophical/idoelogical preoccupations did vary over the course of his life and this resulted in differences in content and forms of his operas. Magee is careful to demonstrate consistent themes (dare I say leitmotifs) throughout this artistic career. These include disgust with contemporary society, strong belief in the importance of love, and a conviction that Wagner's art could have a transforming effect on contemporary life. Magee shows well that Wagner was initially a political radical and German nationalist with strong anarchist leanings. Under the distant influence of Hegel and the more immediate influence of Feuerbach, Wagner rejected contemporary society, conventional religion and mores, and believed strongly in the redemptive power of love, particularly sexual passion. Along with the idea that he could create an integrated music drama with equal roles for poetry, dramatic expression, and music, these ideas strongly color his early successful operas and writings about artistic theory. Wagner began the Ring cycle with these ideas in mind and intended that the Ring cycle would be an essentially revolutionary document, an incitment to the destruction of contemporary society. Midway through the lengthy gestation of the Ring cycle, Wagner underwent a conversion experience after he encountered the work of Schopenhauer. Magee treats Wagner's experience with Schopenhauer sensitively. He shows that Wagner's embrace of Schopenhauer was based on very careful reading and analysis of Schopenhauer's work. Magee shows also that Wagner's enthusiasm for Schopenhauer resulted from the fact that Wagner's considerable intellect was already moving towards conclusions reached by Schopenhauer. Wagner's later work is shown to be a combination of Schopenhauerian ideas translated brilliantly into powerful music and opera. Magee is an excellent writer with a warm, conversational style. As intellectual history this book is first-rate and it is highly accessible. A bonus of this book is that it is an excellent introduction to 19th intellectuals like Schopenhauer and Feuerbach whose work is largely unknown here. As an aside, Magee makes it clear that important ideas usually associated with Freud originally derive from Schopenhauer and Feuerbach. Magee provides also a very good chapter on Nietzsche's relationship with Wagner and an appendix on Wagner's anti-semitism. The former contains what I think is Magee's only misstep. He attributes Nietzsche's descent into insanity as being partly due to Nietzsche's realization that he would never be the creative artist that Wagner became. This is unlikely. Better explanations are that Nietzsche suffered from dementia due to tertiary syphlis or simply developed severe and probably idiopathic depression. The section on Wagner's anti-semitism is clear, unsparing but also vigorously attacks those who judge Wagner solely on this basis. Magee puts Wagner's anti-semitism in context and rebuts claims that his operas exemplify anti-semitism.
|
