How does Siegfried Wagner compare to Richard Wagner?

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Some horribly revealing and fascinating quotations here, Derek. 'Phew, fancy having Cosima as one's mum. Unthinkable! Rather a wonder that Siegfried survived into adulthood.

[Derek Hughes]

'Phew, fancy having Cosima as one's mum. Unthinkable!

Cosima's most notorious maternal failing occurred in 1913, when she claimed in court, falsely but successfully, that her daughter Isolde was the daughter not of Wagner but of von Bülow. This involved shredding her own honour by stating that she had been having sexual relations with von Bülow and Wagner at the same time, but she thereby ensured that the heritage of Bayreuth should go to Siegfried rather than to Isolde's son. From this many evils followed, as we all know.

In his book Cosimas Kinder Oliver Hilmes suggests that Cosima was manipulated by Eva and Houston Stewart Chamberlain, and to some extent a prisoner of them, and that (for example) she was never told of Isolde's death in 1919. I don't know how reliable this is.

One impression I got from Hilmes's book was that Siegfried had a far more ruthless compositional schedule than his father. The Great Man must not be disturbed. The elder Wagner, by contrast, had so much time for family, friends, reading, correspondence, and trips to the pub that it's difficult to believe that, in the midst of it all, he was composing some of the most massive masterworks in musical history.

[Alan Howe]

Siegfried had a far more ruthless compositional schedule than his father. The Great Man must not be disturbed.

Pity he wasn't distracted a bit more. He might have written less; and it might have been of greater quality. But I jest...