{"product_id":"2940016622996","title":"Wagner as I Knew Him by Ferdinand Christian Wilhelm Praeger","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e1813-1821.\u003cbr\u003e \"The child is father to the man\"--Musician, poet, and dramatist--Stage reformer--His grandfather a customs officer--His father, Frederick Wagner, an officer of police, student, and amateur actor--Death of Frederick, 1813--His mother--Eldest brother, Albert, a tenor singer--Sisters Rosalie, Louisa, and Clara, actresses of repute--Ludwig Geyer, a Leipzic actor--Marries Widow Wagner--Family removes to Dresden--Affection of his step-father and mother for him--The girls receive piano-forte lessons--Richard receives a few lessons in drawing from Geyer--Beyond this, up to his ninth year, no regular education is attempted with him--Geyer not of a robust constitution--Wagner plays the bridal chorus from \"Der Freischütz\" by ear--Geyer's prediction and death\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER II.\u003cbr\u003e1822-1827.\u003cbr\u003eHis visit to an uncle Geyer at Eisleben--The Kreuzschule, Dresden--His facility for languages--His modesty--Wagner a small man--Personal appearance described--Wonder of school professors at unusual mental activity of the delicate small boy--A prey to erysipelas--Love of practical joking--Incident of the Kreuzschule roof--An adept in all bodily exercises--His acrobatic feats--Love for his mother--Affection for animals\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER III.\u003cbr\u003e1822-1827. Continued.\u003cbr\u003eRichard Wagner enters the Kreuzschule, Dresden, December, 1822--Translation of part of the \"Odyssey\" by private work--Begins to learn English to read Shakespeare--Writes prize elegy in Germany at eleven years of age--Theodore Körner, pupil of the Kreuzschule and poet of freedom--Metrical translation of Romeo's monologue--His first lessons on the piano--Hatred of finger exercises--Berlioz--Up to fourteen his aspirations distinctly musical\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER IV.\u003cbr\u003eLEIPZIC, 1827-1831.\u003cbr\u003eReturn to Leipzic--The Stadttheater; Rosalie and Louise--Jews, their treatment by Leipzic townspeople--Wagner's attitude towards them--His first love a Jewess--At the St. Nicolas school three years, St. Thomas school and the University a few months each--Describes himself during his Leipzic school-days as \"wild, negligent, and idle\"--Reprehensible gambling of his mother's pension--Crisis of his life--Haydn's symphonies at the theatres and Beethoven's symphonies in the concert-room--Beethoven a pessimist--Haydn and Mozart optimists--Resolve to become a musician--Private study of theory--His first overture, 1830, laughed at--His marvellously neat penmanship--Takes lessons from Cantor Weinlig--Writes a sonata without one original idea or one phrase of more than common interest--Beethoven his daily study--Weber and Beethoven his models--Combines in himself the special gifts of both, the idealism of the former and the reasoned working of the latter\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER V.\u003cbr\u003e1832-1836.\u003cbr\u003eRevolution and romanticism at the beginning of the nineteenth century--Its effect on Wagner--First grand symphony for orchestra--Mendelssohn and Wagner--Wondrous dual gift of music and poesy--Portion of an opera, \"The Wedding,\" engaged at Würzburg--Albert Wagner--Life at Würzburg--First opera, \"The Fairies\"--Schroeder-Devrient and \"The Novice of Palermo\"--Stage manager at Magdeburg, 1834--Views upon German National drama and national life\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER VI.\u003cbr\u003e1836-1839.\u003cbr\u003eLife and troubles at Magdeburg--Wagner marries--Minna Planer: the woman, her home, her trustful love--Reflections on his life at Magdeburg--His ability as a conductor of the orchestra and singers--Popularity of Auber and Rossini--Renewed trials at Königsberg, 1837--Success of Meyerbeer--Paris the ruler of German taste--Wagner's ambition of going to Paris--Sends sketch of new libretto to Scribe--No answer--Writes an overture on \"Rule Britannia,\" and sends it to Sir George Smart--Not noticed-- Wagner's impressions of stage life after his experience at Würzburg, Magdeburg, and Königsberg--Visit to Dresden and \"Rienzi\"--Conductor at Riga, 1839--His difficulties increase--Paris the sole hope of relief--Resolves to go to Paris--Sets sail for London--\"The Champagne Mill\"--Arrival in London\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER VII.\u003cbr\u003eEIGHT DAYS IN LONDON, 1839.\u003cbr\u003eFirst impression--Puts up at cheap hotel in Old Compton Street, Soho--Loss and return of t","brand":"Unforgotten Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47153439342832,"sku":"2940016622996","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940016622996_p0.jpg?v=1763638669","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016622996","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}