Das Mittelalter Richard Wagners. By Danielle Buschinger. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2007.

Writing to his sister in 1843, the young Richard Wagner exclaimed "Oh, how I hate Paris, this great, monstrous alienation to our German hearts!" Despite his antipathy to the French capital, it was during his residency at Paris during 1839–42 that Wagner first encountered the medieval sources that remained fundamental to his artistic projects during his entire career. These sources became an indispensable springboard for his musical-dramatic works, from Tannhäuser, completed in 1845, to Parsifal, which was finished and first performed in 1882, a half-year before his death.

William Kinderman
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign