Klappentext

Wagner studies are traditionally occupied with the persona of Richard Wagner. Only recently, scholars have started to engage in debates over Wagner's Bayreuth Festival project in the context of global history, theatre management, and the social sciences. This monograph reassesses the early history of the Bayreuth Festival between 1848 and 1914 from the perspective of a transnational social project dedicated to the 'regeneration' of modern societies and institutional reform. Based on recent debates in globalization theory, ethnography, and anthropology it focusses on the interplay of seemingly contradictory aspects: financing and anti-capitalist ideology; nationalism and the cosmopolitan reach of Wagner's ideas; artistic monopolization and global marketing. This book follows the translation of the Meister's initial ideas into an organizational body for opera production and presents a number of surprising results.