All in the Family: Tim Blanning reviews two of Tony Palmer’s key films on Wagner and Eva Rieger presents an alternative view of his documentary

Tony Palmer’s new film about the Wagner family begins with a view of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus filmed from the air, as a German-accented voice announces: ‘Falsifying the truth is part of the Wagner family; it started with Richard Wagner himself.’ Unsurprisingly, the voice turns out to belong to Gottfried Wagner, son of Wolfgang and thus great-grandson of Richard. His denunciation continues, embracing Cosima, whose crimes included the burning of seventy letters from Richard to Mathilde Wesendonck; Winifred, who collaborated enthusiastically with Hitler and the Nazis; and all those associated with the post-war ‘new Bayreuth’.