Richard Wagner: The Lighter Side

Music lovers, but certainly Wagnerians, will very much enjoy Richard Wagner: The Lighter Side. Author Terry Quinn did a formidable amount of research to create this extensive volume. The book is filled with facts and interesting musical notes for music lovers, mainly about Wagner: his personal life, music and personality. It’s so detailed and extensive that most readers are likely to skip less interesting passages, but for Wagnerians this is a page turner (Such details, for example, as his loving animals so he became an occasional vegetarian). The many sidebars are worthwhile readings giving more music-oriented information. The pages are filled with quotes from newspapers, magazines, books and letters, with sketches and photographs related to Wagner. The layout of the book is interesting: the seven chapters are named Act One through Act Five with one Intermission and to conclude the volume, Coda. In addition Quinn includes details on ten selected personal heroes he called Helden Wagnerians, known people who loved, respected, and were influenced by Wagner. Quinn describes the fine points of all of Wagner’s major orchestral works and his thirteen operas. The subtitle Lighter Side is appropriate in view of Wagner’s particularly heavy music.