Table of Contents

Introduction
Wagner's Zurich
Zurich's Wagner
Weathering Storms
The Life Aquatic
Publishing in Zurich
Colleagues and Competitors: The Men Who Weren't There
Composing in Wagner's Footsteps
Wagner Conducts
Otto's Family Ways
Voicing Mathilde: Wagner's Controlling Muse
Epilogue
Works Consulted
Index of Names

About the Author

Chris Walton studied at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Zurich and Munich. He was head of the Music Department of the Zentralbibliothek
Zürich for ten years before being appointed chair of music at the University of Pretoria. He moved back to Switzerland in 2008 and lives today in
Solothurn. He is an Honorary Professor at Africa Open Institute (Stellenbosch University) and runs two research projects at the Bern University of the Arts for the Swiss National Science Foundation. He has published widely on Austro-German and Swiss music.

Reviews

Just when one thinks everything that could possibly be written about Wagner has been written, along comes a new point of view.... There are real surprises here and many an obscurity brightened up or revealed .... The writing is erudite... an important addition to the Wagner bibliography.
*AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE*

The connections and meetings among contemporary composers such as Hünerwadel, Baumgartner, Eschmann and Wagner that Walton brings out are striking, [as are] the similarities that he establishes between Wagner and Brahms, like Wagner a friend of Swiss landscape and culture.
*SCHWEIZER MUSIKZEITUNG*

Walton's deep knowledge of his subject allows him to draw subtle and unexpected connections throughout.... meticulously researched and highly readable...packed with information and insight on a crucial decade of Wagner's life: a must-buy for Wagner scholars and enthusiasts.
*THE WAGNER JOURNAL*

Filling in many gaps ..., [this book] has the feel of freshly discovered research materials.... In a detailed analysis of [Mathilde Wesendonck's] relationship with Wagner ... Walton presents the convincing (and still quite novel) view that, far from being Wagner's 'white piece of paper,' she 'became an important sounding-board for [his] plans and theories.
*GRAMOPHONE*

[Examines] details of extant scores and orchestral parts from Wagner's performances of, for instance, Mozart's 'Jupiter' Symphony ... almost recreating in our minds a few moments from actual concerts. This chapter was thrilling from start to finish.
*MUSIC & LETTERS*

Anyone interested in Wagner the man and composer should seek out this work.
*NOTES*

[Walton's] virtuoso knowledge of day-to-day data enables [him] to trace in detail Wagner's dealings with musicians, publishers and others, with some surprising conclusions about Wagner the man and artist. .. His depth of research, his discovery of important aspects of Wagner's Zurich period, and his comments on the music, stylistic rather than analytical, enrich us with a fuller than ever picture of Wagner's personal and artistic development at a crucial period.
*NINETEENTH CENTURY MUSIC REVIEW*