Introduction Wilhelm Furtwangler: The Historical, Cultural and Intellectual Background Childhood and Youth [1886-1911] Lubeck and Mannheim [1911-1920] Furtwangler in the Weimar Republic [1919- 1933] Furtwangler and the Nazi State I [1933-1935] Furtwangler in the Nazi State II [1935-1945] Reflection and Reaction: Furtwangler in the post-war period [1945-1950] Furtwangler as Symphonist 'All Greatness is Simplicity' [1951-1954] Afterword Appendix 1: Two Furtwangler essays, 'Heinrich Schenker' [1947], 'Hans Pfitzner' [1948] Appendix 2: Thomas Mann, 'Germany and the Germans' [1945] Appendix 3: Audio and visual sources Bibliography
[An] absorbing, but balanced and methodical, appraisal of
Furtwangler as man and musician. The unique aspect of his book is
the detailed attention that is given to the conductor's extensive
writings...a key towards understanding [Wilhelm Furtwangler] place
German music history. * THE WAGNER JOURNAL *
An innovative approach to this highly controversial conductor whose
career flourished under Nazi rule...a very welcome and insightful
complement to the extant library of Furtwangler biographies. *
GERMAN HISTORY *
Roger Allen's thoroughly researched volume is something subtler and
ultimately perhaps more insightful. * OPERA *
An astute essay on the highs and lows of German cultural history,
as seen through the eyes and perceived by the actions of the star
conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler...Allen enters this terrain equipped
with a great sense of fairness rarely found in scholarly studies. *
WAGNERSPECTRUM *
Trace[s] the genesis of the belief system that made Furtwangler
accept the Nazi regime as an unappetizing but tolerable set-up in
which to achieve his cultural aims...Reading Furtwangler's writings
with Allen as a guide illuminates the political undercurrents of
his aesthetics. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *
Explored through Furtwangler's writings and those of relevant
contemporaries, is the social, intellectual and cultural hinterland
- the 'Germanness' - that shaped his being...There is much that is
interesting here about the nature of German conservatism and
Furtwangler's relationship to it. * GRAMOPHONE *
This impeccably researched and engagingly written study tackles the
emotive subject from a cultural perspective, shedding fresh light
on how Furtwangler remained (at least in his mind) apolitical
during a period of extreme politicisation. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *
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