Cosima Wagner's Diaries: An Abridgement

By: Cosima Wagner

Book Overview

Franz Liszt's daughter Cosima began her diaries on January 1, 1869, a few weeks after leaving her husband to live with Richard Wagner. Until Wagner's death in 1883 they were rarely parted, and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300069049
• ISBN13: 9780300069044
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 536 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Mrs Wagner

While Wagner was writing his opera Siegfried, Cosima von Bulow left her husband to join Wagner. From that day until he died, Cosima (soon to be Cosima Wagner) kept a detailed, daily journal of life with "R" (as Cosima calls him). This book is an abridgment of those complete diaries, and a mere 1/4 the length of the original. Martin Cooper, who translated the full length original, did the editing for this abridgment, and he did an admirable job. He captured the "important" stuff, while leaving out all the detail. If you just want to read about Wagner, but are not interested in all the fluff, this book is for you. Learn about Wagner the man without all of the usual hyperbole. Those who are interested in the diaries but are put off by its 2000 pages now have a good alternative. It can be highly recommended to everyone except specialists. If you are a Wagner aficionado, however, you will want to get your hands on the full-length original.