Richard Wagner was a crossdresser?

[NickyCD]

I am currently reading a really interesting book titled "The Secret Lives of the Great Composers" by Elizabeth Lunday and I came across a really interesting bit of information in regards to Richard Wagner. Wagner lived from 1813 to 1883. He was a very controversial figure and a total ass-hat but he composed some of the greatest and most flamboyant music of all time, including "The Ride of the Valkyries", "Bridal Chorus", and the greatest opera ever, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle as it is known).

There is a decent amount of evidence easily found with a google search to corroborate this story, here is the excerpt:

"IN TOUCH WITH HIS FEMININE SIDE
Richard Wagner liked to present himself as a man's man, a fighter in revolutions, a wooer of women; but the composer also adored silks and satins, particularly pink silks and satins. In fact, Richard Wagner habitually wore women's underwear.
It's not clear when the behavior began, but by the time Wagner lived in Zurich, he had developed a passion for tailor-made silk drawers as well as lace negligees and velvet coats. Naturally, he was a some pains to conceal this little quirk. Sometimes he pretended his orders were for [his s/o] Cosima; other times, he arranged for his contraband to be shipped to his barber. Since he couldn't traipse around the house in a petticoat, he needed a special sanctum for their delectation, and so all of his later homes included a private room covered from floor to ceiling in pale silk and ornamented with as many rosettes, ruchings, and tassels as it could hold."

I thought it was funny that some of his behaviors are things I (and maybe some of you ladies as well) have most definitely done like using my wife's name to order stuff. Maybe he wrote the aforementioned "Bridal Chorus" while wearing or envisioning himself in a beautiful wedding gown, we will never know.

"The Secret Lives of the Great Composers" by Elizabeth Lunday (you can buy at the link below if interested)

http://www.powells.com/SearchResults...at%20composers

Very Respectfully,

NickyCD

[Katya@]

nice story. Thanks for sharing!

[donnalee]

AS a classical music student, I learned Wagner was gay, but not the details;of course this was an era when that and dressing were looked at with equal disdain and weren't differentiated.

[Nikkilovesdresses]

Pretty easy to imagine Mozart crossdressing, Bach or Beethoven not so much.

Wonder what they'd have made of David Bowie?