Joseph Horowitz Discusses Anton Seidl and The Disciple: A Wagnerian Tale of the Gilded Age
Cultural historian Joseph Horowitz has released a novel titled The Disciple: A Wagnerian Tale of the Gilded Age, focusing on Anton Seidl, a conductor from Hungary who became instrumental in American classical music after his arrival in 1885. In a conversation with Aaron Cohen for ArtsFuse, Horowitz highlights that Seidl, regarded by Richard Wagner as the ultimate interpreter of his works, passed away at the age of 47 in 1898. Drawing from uncatalogued archives at Columbia University and the Brooklyn Historical Society, he contends that the pinnacle of American classical music occurred in the 1890s, referencing Dvořák's New World Symphony, which Seidl premiered in 1893. Horowitz is set to discuss his book on October 15 and October 27. In 2023, he also published The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York.
Key facts
- Joseph Horowitz's novel The Disciple: A Wagnerian Tale of the Gilded Age centers on conductor Anton Seidl.
- Anton Seidl arrived in America in 1885 and became New York's most beloved conductor before fading into obscurity by the mid-20th century.
- Seidl died suddenly in 1898 at the age of 47.
- Horowitz researched uncatalogued archives at Columbia University and the Brooklyn Historical Society.
- Laura Langford led the Seidl Society, which gave more concerts than the New York Philharmonic in Brooklyn.
- Dvořák's New World Symphony premiered in 1893 at Carnegie Hall under Seidl's baton.
- Horowitz will speak about the book for the Wagner Society of New York on October 15 and the Wagner Society of America on October 27.
- Horowitz previously published The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York in 2023.
Entities
Artists
- Joseph Horowitz
- Anton Seidl
- Richard Wagner
- Aaron Cohen
- Arthur Farwell
- Laura Langford
- Madame Blavatsky
- Henry Higginson
- Theodore Thomas
- Antonín Dvořák
- Jeannette Thurber
- Henry Krehbiel
- Harry Burleigh
- Edith Wharton
- Kurt Weill
- Victor Herbert
- George Chadwick
- Charles Ives
- Aaron Copland
- Virgil Thomson
- Gustav Mahler
- Alma Mahler
- Antonio Muñoz Molina
- Arturo Toscanini
- Leonard Bernstein
- Clive Paget
- Antonin Dvorak
- Cosima Wagner
Institutions
- ArtsFuse
- Wagner Society of New York
- Wagner Society of America
- Columbia University
- Brooklyn Historical Society
- Seidl Society
- New York Philharmonic
- National Conservatory of Music
- Metropolitan Opera
- Academy of Music
- Carnegie Hall
- Bayreuth
- New York Public Radio
- WNYC
- WQXR
- American Public Media
- WFMT Radio Network
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Embrace Everything: The World of Gustav Mahler
- Musical America
- New York Tribune
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Hungary
- Europe
- Russia
- Wahnfried
- Brooklyn
- Coney Island
- Catskills
- Boston
- Brighton Beach
- Yale
- London
- Chicago
- Manhattan
- Bayreuth
- America