Wilhelm Furtwaengler

[An] absorbing, but balanced and methodical, appraisal of Furtwaengler as man and musician. The unique aspect of his book is the detailed attention that is given to the conductor's extensive writings...a key towards understanding [Wilhelm Furtwaengler] place German music history. * THE WAGNER JOURNAL *
An innovative approach to this highly controversial conductor whose career flourished under Nazi rule...a very welcome and insightful complement to the extant library of Furtwaengler biographies. * GERMAN HISTORY *
Roger Allen's thoroughly researched volume is something subtler and ultimately perhaps more insightful. * OPERA *
An astute essay on the highs and lows of German cultural history, as seen through the eyes and perceived by the actions of the star conductor Wilhelm Furtwaengler...Allen enters this terrain equipped with a great sense of fairness rarely found in scholarly studies. * WAGNERSPECTRUM *
Trace[s] the genesis of the belief system that made Furtwaengler accept the Nazi regime as an unappetizing but tolerable set-up in which to achieve his cultural aims...Reading Furtwaengler's writings with Allen as a guide illuminates the political undercurrents of his aesthetics. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *
Explored through Furtwaengler's writings and those of relevant contemporaries, is the social, intellectual and cultural hinterland - the 'Germanness' - that shaped his being...There is much that is interesting here about the nature of German conservatism and Furtwaengler's relationship to it. * GRAMOPHONE *
This impeccably researched and engagingly written study tackles the emotive subject from a cultural perspective, shedding fresh light on how Furtwaengler remained (at least in his mind) apolitical during a period of extreme politicisation. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *