At a public park in Venice, Peter Conrad noticed that statues of the composers Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner were positioned so that they appeared to shun each other. Both artists were born in 1813 and achieved international renown in their lifetimes, but the differences between them—in music, culture, environment, and legacy—were profound. Assessing the men and their music, Conrad argues in this illustrated history that they represent complementary opposites, and our culture still needs both of them.