Hans Rudolf Vaget - "Es Lebe Amerika!" Richard Wagner and the New World

In-person Event at Edinburgh Society of Musicians

Hans Rudolf Vaget - "Es Lebe Amerika!" Richard Wagner and the New World

Professor Hans Vaget is Emeritus Helen and Laura Shedd professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature and founding editor of Wagner Spectrum (the German Wagner Journal).Wagner declared his intention to emigrate to the United States on three occasions. This baffling biographical item has not received the attention that it calls for. Professor Vaget will examine Wagner’s plan emigrate to the United States and start a ‘New Bayreuth’ – who knew! What emerges is an appreciation of Wagner’s lifelong interest in America, rendering his dependence on the patronage of King Ludwig the second all the more fraught and problematic. The lecture will be a condensed version of his biographical essay ‘Richard Wagner’s Amerika: Eine ausgrabung’ (Wuertzburg 2022). There is currently no English translation of the book, so this is your opportunity to hear about this fascinating research.

Host or Publisher Wagner Society of Scotland