Stephen Fry: Wagner and Me

Stephen Fry explores his passion for the world’s most controversial composer. But Stephen is Jewish and lost family in the Holocaust - can he salvage Richard Wagner’s music from its dark associations with anti-Semitism and Hitler? Stephen’s 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. He also explores the other landmarks of Wagner’s extraordinary career in Germany, Switzerland and Russia. As his journey continues, he also confronts the composer’s dark side. In Nuremberg he investigates how Hitler appropriated Wagner’s music. In London he meets a cellist who played in the prisoners’ orchestra at Auschwitz: what will she think of Stephen’s passion for Hitler’s favourite artist? Animated by Stephen Fry’s trademark wit and intelligence, and featuring a soundtrack of Wagner’s revolutionary mus