Wagner as I Knew Him

A longtime acquaintance and friend presents intimate reminiscences and assessments of Richard Wagner, combining anecdote, character analysis, and commentary on his artistic ideas. The account traces shared origins, early musical influences, formative teachers, and episodes that expose paradoxes between professed principles and practical choices, including aesthetic doctrines that clash with later compromises. It interweaves reflections on compositional method and dramatic aims with candid observations of temperament, friendships, and controversies, seeking to clarify motives, correct misunderstandings, and offer a balanced personal portrait of the man behind the public disputes.