My Life — Volume 1

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Dictated to his wife Cosima, the first volume of Wagner's autobiography traces his life from his 1813 birth in Leipzig through his turbulent youth, apprentice years as a conductor in Dresden and Riga, and the years of poverty and struggle in Paris that shaped his artistic vision. He recounts his early passion for theatre and Beethoven, his first operatic experiments, and the germination of The Flying Dutchman and Tannhäuser. Along the way appear vivid portraits of pre-revolutionary Europe, provincial opera houses, and the composers, actors, and revolutionaries who crossed his path. Self-serving and often score-settling, yet astonishingly candid, it remains an indispensable window into the mind of the nineteenth century's most controversial musical genius.

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