Actor and writer Stephen Fry explores his passion for the world's most controversial composer, Richard Wagner. As a life-long fan can Stephen, who is Jewish and lost family in the Holocaust, salvage Wagner's music from its dark associations with anti-Semitism and Hitler? This personal quest unfolds against the backdrop of the annual Wagner festival in Bayreuth, Southern Germany. Granted unique access to this legendary arts institution, he eavesdrops on rehearsals and discovers its backstage secrets. To a soundtrack of Wagner's extraordinary music, Stephen follows the Wagner trail to Switzerland and Russia in search of the origins of the music as well as those inspired by it. In Nuremberg he investigates how Hitler appropriated Wagner's music. Animated by Stephen's trademark wit and intelligence this is a fantastic introduction to the life and legacy of one of history's great composers.
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