Therefore, it compromised the superiority of the German art and body politic. The Bayreuth festival, founded by Wagner, was utilized by the Nazis as a propaganda tool against the Jews. Both Hitler and Wagner were not only racist, but both were also artists and politicians. Whereas Wagner exhibited a number of talents, Hitler was known for his painting and oratory skills. Both were paranoid that they had Jewish forbearers. Some

However, though he is still regarded a controversial racist in some quarters, that Wagner was a musical genius is not in doubt. Indeed, most of his compositions attest to this fact. This is more so the case when it comes to one of his compositions by the name Ride of the Valkyries. In my opinion, this remains one of the most passionate of his compositions. The opening of this classic

. . which fascinates by the mass of its beauties" (Goulding, 1995, 256). Much like Wagner, Tchaikovsky was influenced by several love affairs, first with Desiree Artot, an opera singer who deserted him to marry someone else and Nadezhda von Meck, a patroness of the arts. Thus, the relationship with Ms. Von Meck provided the stimulation Tchaikovsky needed for the completion of Romeo and Juliet; she also was obviously

Piave's life was more unruly than the way that Verdi was used to living, but he still knew how to defer to Verdi's wishes. It is believed that Piave had a way of allowing Verdi to "let his hair down" (Berger 2000) as he was often much more uptight around others. They did develop a solid working relationship and they were even known for carousing around Venice (2000) (a

Liszt conducted his own work possible, and whenever possible and he made no exception of this concert. The popularity of the two pieces was already well established; the score to Les Preludes had been published earlier in the same year as this, though it is likely that the pieces had not been heard in St. Gallen before as this is the first recorded visit of Liszt to the town

Exoticism in Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Opera The objective of this study is to answer as to what is meant by exoticism in nineteenth and early-twentieth century opera and as to what the appeal of exoticism to European librettists and composers. This work will take two operas as case studies and explore both the ways in which the librettists handle their subject matter and the ways in which the composers