Robert Gutman's biography of Richard Wagner is one of most entertaining biographies of anyone, musician or not, that I've ever read.
Gutman obviously despises Wagner -- as several Amazon reviewers have noted -- and that brings out the best in Gutman. If you had never heard Wagner's music, you'd despise him too, based on this book. Fortunately, we have the man's transcendent work, which redeems him (except in Gutman's eyes). By contrast, Gutman's biography of Mozart, whom he loves, is curiously flat, unless you're intensely curious about what Mozart had for lunch on certain dates.
Though it's not exactly a biography, The Tristan Chord, by Bryan Magee, is a useful corrective to the entertainingly vicious Gutman, and well worth it on its own.
Gutman obviously despises Wagner -- as several Amazon reviewers have noted -- and that brings out the best in Gutman. If you had never heard Wagner's music, you'd despise him too, based on this book. Fortunately, we have the man's transcendent work, which redeems him (except in Gutman's eyes). By contrast, Gutman's biography of Mozart, whom he loves, is curiously flat, unless you're intensely curious about what Mozart had for lunch on certain dates.
Though it's not exactly a biography, The Tristan Chord, by Bryan Magee, is a useful corrective to the entertainingly vicious Gutman, and well worth it on its own.