A True Artist and a True Friend: Roger Allen welcomes the reissue of a meticulously researched biography of Hans Richter

Review of Christopher Fifield, Hans Richter (The Boydell Press, 2016).

November 2017, Volume 11, Number 3, 93–6.

There can be no doubt that Christopher Fifield’s masterly biography of Hans Richter (1843–1916), first published in 1993, is a classic of its genre. Its reissue by the Boydell Press in an expanded and handsomely produced new edition is very welcome indeed and a substantial addition to the bibliography.

Hans Richter’s historical importance as an executive musician cannot be overstated. His musical practices were shaped and nurtured by daily contact with Wagner in the Tribschen years (1866–72) when he lived as a member of the household. Among his many duties, both secretarial and domestic, he acted as Wagner’s amanuensis by making fair copies of the full scores of Meistersinger and Siegfried from the composer’s autographs; he played a prominent part in the premiere performances of Meistersinger in Munich, even on one occasion stepping up to sing the part of Kothner (16 July 1868); and he arranged the musicians and played the trumpet in the famed first performance of the Siegfried Idyll (25 December 1870).