{"product_id":"9780525436188","title":"Being Wagner: The Story of the Most Provocative Composer Who Ever Lived","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSimon Callow, the celebrated author of \u003ci\u003eOrson Welles\u003c\/i\u003e, delivers a dazzling, swift, and accessible biography of the musical titan Richard Wagner and his profoundly problematic legacy—a fresh take for seasoned acolytes and the perfect introduction for new fans.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichard Wagner's music dramas have never been more popular or more divisive. His ten masterpieces, created against the backdrop of a continent in severe political and cultural upheaval, constitute an unmatched body of work. A man who spent most of his life in abject poverty, inspiring both critical derision and hysterical hero-worship, Wagner was a walking contradiction: belligerent, flirtatious, disciplined, capricious, demanding, visionary, and poisonously anti-Semitic. Acclaimed biographer Simon Callow evokes the intellectual and artistic climate in which Wagner lived and takes us through his most iconic works, from his pivotal successes in \u003ci\u003eThe Flying Dutchman\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLohengrin\u003c\/i\u003e, to the musical paradigm shift contained in \u003ci\u003eTristan and Isolde\u003c\/i\u003e, to the apogee of his achievements in \u003ci\u003eThe Ring of the Nibelung\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eParsifal\u003c\/i\u003e, which debuted at Bayreuth shortly before his death. \u003ci\u003eBeing Wagner\u003c\/i\u003e brings to life this towering figure, creator of the most sublime and most controversial body of work ever known.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47014069305584,"sku":"9780525436188","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780525436188_p0.jpg?v=1769894981","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780525436188","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}