Wagner Without Fear: Learning to Love--and Even Enjoy--Opera's Most Demanding Genius

Book Description

Do you cringe when your opera-loving friends start raving about the latest production of Tristan? Do you feel faint just thinking about the six-hour performance of Parsifal you were given tickets to? Does your mate accuse you of having a Tannhäuser complex? If you're baffled by the behavior of Wagner worshipers, if you've longed to fathom the mysteries of Wagner's ever-increasing popularity, or if you just want to better understand and enjoy the performances you're attending, you'll find this delightful book indispensable.

William Berger is the most helpful guide one could hope to find for navigating the strange and beautiful world of the most controversial artist who ever lived. He tells you all you need to know to become a true Wagnerite--from story lines to historical background; from when to visit the rest room to how to sound smart during intermission; from the Jewish legend that possibly inspired Lohengrin to the tragic death of the first Tristan. Funny, informative, and always a pleasure to read, Wagner Without Fear proves that the art of Wagner can be accessible to everyone.

Includes:
- The strange life of Richard Wagner--German patriot (and exile), friend (and enemy) of Liszt and Nietzsche
- Essential opera lore and "lobby talk"
- A scene-by-scene analysis of each opera
- What to listen for to get the most from the music
- Recommended recordings, films, and sound tracks

Customer Reviews:

Great Overview.......2006-03-18

A very reader-friendly review of Wagner's life and then a serious concentration on all of his operas.

Excellent resource for all opera fans........2006-02-04

This is an excellent book for someone like me - a total novice to Wagner and his music. I have always enjoyed Wagner's music and was desperately looking for some introductory material to his works. What I wanted was something that was not too simplistic and not too academic. Well, this is it.

The book contains a brief section on biography followed by a great introduction to each of Wagner's operas. I read each of the opera introductions at least twice and then watch the opera on DVD (The Met's version by Levine). What a treat!

I do understand how some of the more scholarly amongst us find this work shallow and demeaning. But friends, for someone like myself, who does not read music; and has no formal training in music, books such as these are a good first start. And who knows - this book may introduce some yet unknown kid to the joys of opera.

Excellent work. Thank you.

Come on...loosen your collars scholars. This book is good........2005-05-17

I am a young music student and I checked this book out to introduce myself to Wagner's operas. I think this book is fantastic. I also think it is a bit unfair that people nag the book for not being academic enough, for trivializing the meaning of the opers, etc. etc. It seems to me the book only attempts to be an INTRODUCTION to Wagner's operas, and in that sense, he does a great job. The list of reccommending reading tells me that this is meant only as a welcome mat and a vast amount of more serious literature awaits anyone who wishes to dive further into the subject. It is the same sort of Scholarly Elitism you get from people who condemn this book that keeps the classics away from my generation and keeps it in the concert hall for a concert going audience that will soon be gone. Unless people quit condemning this sort of literature which makes these great dramas accessible to new listeners, you can kiss Wagner goodbye in 20 years. Maybe less.

Oh, and Wagner was not just an anarchist, blah blah...he was a horrible anti-semite...more so than the "common sentiment of his day". I saw Gottfried Wagner give a lecture and I think he threw a number out that said Wagner wrote over 1800 pages of anti-semetic sentiments. That seems a bit more than a common sentiment. "All Jews should be burned at a performance of Nathan the Wise." - Richard Wagner.

-- Kyle M. Terrizzi --

bad suggestion for wagner fans.......2003-07-15

this book is a poor reccomendation for those who appreciate wagner's music.

Bravo for Berger as he explores the Bayreuth Genius........2003-02-10

By all accounts Richard Wagner was an antisemtic bigot who practiced the art of adultery, seduction and other nefarious activities in nineteenth century Europe. He was also a musical genius who revolutionized the staid world of opera.
William Berger gives the reader a guide written in a popular, witty yet erudite style which enchants as it enterains.
Berger provides us with plot summaries of the major Wagner operas while adding chapters dealing with everything from a bibliograpy of valuable books on Wagner; a chapter on Wagner on CD's and even when to plan for bathroom breaks during interminable evenings of Wagner watching in the theatre!
I found his description of the ambience at Bayreuth to be a fascinating glimpse of the mecca for all true Wagnerites making the pilgrimage to the shirne of the Master.
This book will be a welcome addition to newcomers to the art of Wagner as well as seasoned operagoers.
I will keep this book on my shelf for easy access while whiling away Saturday afternoons tuned in to the Met or enjoying an evening of Tristan and Isolde on my Bose radio.
Berger is readable and opinionated. This book comes highly recommended by this reviewer.

Wagner Without Fear: Learning to Love--and Even Enjoy--Opera's Most Demanding Genius

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Wagner Without Fear: Learning to Love--and Even Enjoy--Opera's Most Demanding Genius
William Berger
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OXLCKA

Customer Reviews:

eye opener.......2002-12-12

Remarkable saga of the rise and fall of one of history's great air forces, as told by one of its most decorated and honored officers, Werner Baunbach. A key figure in the arial campaigns over England, Russia, the Mediterranean, and the Arctic. Baumbach became head of the Luftwaffe's Bomber Command before his thirtieth birthday. In this book he gives a detailed, frank, inside account of Germany's air war, seen from the top: Hitler as leader and strategist; assessments of such Luftwaffe leaders as Goring, Milch, Udet, Jeschonnek, and Galland; and the great controversies over tactics and strategy that help decide the war.

Interesting insight into the Luftwaffe's demise.......2002-08-04

The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe is an interesting account of the successes and (more often) failures of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. The author served as a bomber pilot through part of the war and was eventually promoted to the commanding rank of the Luftwaffe's bomber force. He was but 29 years of age at war's end.

Baumbach begins by discussing the formative years of the Luftwaffe following the First World War and then discusses certain pressing issues that arose following Hitler's rise to power, issues such as the decision to develop a medium rather than a heavy bomber force, which would have significant consequences during the war.

The author also provides interesting insight into the problems facing the Luftwaffe and rivalries and lack of coordination which impeded the ability for it successfully adapt to the nature of arial combat during the war. His general premise is that had the Luftwaffe developed a heavy bomber force, not persisted in developing numerous time and resource wasting prototypes, and focused on the development on some promising weaponry such as guided bombs, Germany may have been able to beat back the assault on Fortress Europa.

This work, which was first published in Germany shortly after the war, of course has to be approached with a certain degree of skepticism when it comes to his own subjective interpretations of certain peoples and events. All in all, though, it is an interesting read.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE LUFTWAFFE
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THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE LUFTWAFFE
BAUMBACH WERNER
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HCTUMU

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THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE LUFTWAFFE

Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GPZCS4

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The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe
Werner Baumbach
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000X8O5ZU

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The Life And Death Of The Luftwaffe
Werner Baumbach
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GYH06M

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The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe

Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GTFZNC

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The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe
Werner Baumbach
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books U6240: New York, NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HUJ7O8

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The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe
Werner Baumbach
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KF1S9C

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The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe
Werner Baumback
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000MSHG0M

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The Life and Death of the Luftwaffe
Werner Baumbach
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000R4YZ7I

Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France
Average customer rating:

propaganda at its fullest

A thesis based on resentment and bigotry

Not Bad, Not Great

Accurate Book -- Good Read

Unbelievably inane waste of time ....

Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France
John J. Miller , and Mark Molesky
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The American Enemy: The History of French Anti-Americanism

ASIN: 0385512198
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Book Description

Liberté? Egalité? Fraternité? Or just plain gall?

In this provocative and brilliantly researched history of how the French have dealt with the United States, John J. Miller and Mark Molesky demonstrate that the cherished idea of French friendship has little basis in reality. Despite the myth of the “sister republics,” the French have always been our rivals, and have harmed and obstructed our interests more often than not.

This history of French hostility goes back to 1704, when a group of French and Indians massacred American settlers in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The authors also debunk the myth of French aid during the Revolution: contrary to popular notions, the French did not enter the war until very late and were mainly interested in hurting their rivals, the British. After the war, the French continued to see themselves as major players in the Western hemisphere and shaped their policies to limit the growth and power of the new nation. The notorious XYZ affair, involving French efforts to undermine the government of George Washington, led to an undeclared naval war with France in 1798. During the Civil War, the French supported the Confederacy and installed a puppet emperor in Mexico.

In the twentieth century, Americans clashed with the French repreatedly. The French victory over President Wilson at Versailles imposed a short-sighted and punitive settlement on Germany that paved the way for the rise of fascism in the 1930s. During World War II, Vichy French troops killed hundreds of American soldiers in North Africa, and diehard French fascist units fought against the Allies in the rubble of Berlin. During the Cold War, Charles DeGaulle yanked France out of NATO and obstructed our efforts to roll back Soviet expansion.

The legacy of French imperial power has been no less disastrous. The French left Haiti in a shambles, got us into Vietnam, and educated many of the world’s worst tyrants at their elite universities, including Pol Pot, the genocidal Cambodian dictator. The fascist Baath regimes in Iraq and Syria are another legacy of failed French colonialism.

Americans have been particularly irritated by French cultural arrogance—their crusades against American movies, McDonalds, Disney, and the exclusion of American words from their language have always rubbed us the wrong way. This irritation has now blossomed into outrage. Our Oldest Enemy shows why that outrage is justified.

Customer Reviews:

propaganda at its fullest.......2007-03-07

As an American living in France for the third time, I have to admit... I couldn't stomach this book enough to read the entire thing. At the end of each chapter I kept asking myself "Are they writing in this tone to get the reader's attention?" So I finally jumped to the last few chapters to find that I was, unfortunately, wrong. While I don't doubt the historical facts in this book, it was so one-sided with blatant french bashing that I finally just said "No way am I going to finish reading this!" I don't want their writing in any way to affect my behaviors towards the french, especially not in the way that they are hoping to.

I'm not even goingto bother to re-list this on amazon because I don't want another copy of it going around. It already went straight into the recycle bin.

Relations are already strained enough between americans and the french. If you are interested in understanding the history of why our relations are strained, its because of propaganda like this that sets the American mind so forcefully against the French. I suggest going elsewhere for a more objective approach to the Franco-American history.

A thesis based on resentment and bigotry.......2007-02-17

Bottom line is, the USA would not even exist if it had not been for France. Our founding fathers got the schematic for the constitution from a Frenchman named Montesquie, and 3/4 of the troops fighting the redcoats at the crucial battle of Yorktown were French.

One can make a similar case for historical US relations with Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, certainly Britain. Miller says France was only pursuing its own interests in events like the Revolutionary War and the Louisiana Purchase? Come now, doesn't everyone?

Not Bad, Not Great.......2006-09-29

I learned a lot form this book, but it is rather one-sided (I guess that's its point) and would have liked more debate. Hoever, it IS very interesting the long history of antagonization between the USA and its "Ally". Perhaps not THAT far beyond the normal tiffs friendly nations have, but still pretty telling. I don't know, however, how much of the long-past history is applicable to our current mutual animosity, but it's worth reading, nonetheless.

Accurate Book -- Good Read.......2006-08-22

Speaking as someone who is fluent in French and has lived in France for over two years, I was very impressed with how well this book succinctly and accurately recounts the history of Franco-American relations. Like many people, I have a love-hate relationship with the French. The food, culture, and language are second-to-none; other than my home state of Vermont, I can not imagine living anywhere else. Yet it is undeniable that the French are extremely chauvinistic and have a major complex about their loss of status and influence in the world. It is also true that their "friendship" with the U.S. has almost always been a relationship of convenience in which the French were pursuing a crafty counter-policy under the table.

France helped America win its independence from England, but only to stymie the Brits. Once the war was won, the French did everything they could to weaken the young American republic, with an eye on conquering it later. Rebuffed at that point, France tried again during the U.S. Civil War, supporting the Confederates, and toppling the Mexican government. In more recent times, France has attempted to boost its standing by harnessing international organizations for its own purposes -- quitting NATO when it was not allowed to run things, turning the UN Security Council into a three-ring soap-opera circus, and using the EU as a means of exerting control over the entire European continent. The French have an unrelenting quest for power, and are arrogant enough to believe they deserve it.

And it's not like Americans are the only ones who view the French this way: the British, Germans, and almost everyone else in the world have the same view of them because, well, it's true. Heck, even Howard Dean once said of France: "The French will always do exactly the opposite of what the United States wants regardless of what happens, so [the U.S. and France] are never going to have a consistent policy." Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

As usual, buyers should ignore the trolls who have posted virulently negative reviews here. Most of them see defending the French as their duty in a proxy war against the Bush administration. Based on their comments, most of them have not even read the book. Ditto for many of the left-of-center professional critics quoted above. As for me, I will drink my fine French wine and enjoy France's many cultural delights, while at the same time proudly presenting my middle finger to French foreign policy and national duplicity.

Unbelievably inane waste of time ...........2006-03-27

Reading this book caused me to pause frequently and wonder how anyone could commit such haf-truth, historically misinterpreted and totally uninformed nonsense into a book.

At several moments in the book, the authors actually seem to posit that the French state has as its single motivating factor the absolute destruction of the United States. This is simply neo-con propagandist culture war mongering conjured up by agenda driven authors.

I am continually embarassed how readily some people will forgo intelligent discouse and cultural understanding simply to jump on the rightist anti-France bandwagon of late.

Instead of wasting time reading this garbage, how about jumping on a plane and visiting France? 77-million people did just that last year ... 25 million more that the next most visited country (Spain) and approximately 3 times the population of Canada.

And, incidentally, France also enjoys the highest standard of living in the world.

Our Oldest Enemy - History Of America's Disastrous Relationship With France

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Our Oldest Enemy - History Of America's Disastrous Relationship With France
John J.; Molesky, Mark Miller
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RJ07TS

French without tears.(French Negotiating Behavior: Dealing with La Grande Nation)(Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with ... An article from: The National Interest

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French without tears.(French Negotiating Behavior: Dealing with La Grande Nation)(Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with ... An article from: The National Interest
Martin Walker
Manufacturer: The National Interest, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from The National Interest, published by The National Interest, Inc. on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 4958 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: French without tears.(French Negotiating Behavior: Dealing with La Grande Nation)(Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France)(Le Requin et La Mouette)(Chirac contre Bush: l'Autre Guerre )(Un Autre Monde)(Book Review)
Author: Martin Walker
Publication: The National Interest (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: The National Interest, Inc.
Issue: 79 Page: 130(9)

Article Type: Book Review

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Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch

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Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch
Norman Goldman
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This digital document is an article from Reviewer's Bookwatch, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 717 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France.(Book Review)
Author: Norman Goldman
Publication: Reviewer's Bookwatch (Newsletter)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA

Article Type: Book Review

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Our Oldest Enemy : A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France

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Our Oldest Enemy : A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France
John & Molesky, Mark Miller
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S76MLQ

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Excellent for the "technical" hunter.......1998-10-25

This book is an all in one for anyone who wants to know anything about elk. Truely a book filled with all the answers to the questions you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

The Jackson Elk Herd: Intensive Wildlife Management in North America (Cambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource Management)

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The Jackson Elk Herd: Intensive Wildlife Management in North America (Cambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource Management)
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North American Elk: Ecology and Management

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Great reference

North American Elk: Ecology and Management
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Manufacturer: Smithsonian
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North American Elk: Ecology and Management contains the most up-to-date information on elk behavior, physiology, migration, taxonomy, and management. Full chapters are devoted to distribution, nutrition and food, diseases and parasites, ecosystem management, hunting, the regulation of hunting, the historical relationship between Native Americans and elk, and much more. The editors, Toweill and Thomas, conclude with a thorough discussion of the future of elk and their management.

Customer Reviews:

Great reference.......2003-04-03

For elk researchers, this is an essential summary of the expansive research on elk.

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