A Grand Opera: The Story of the Wagner Family. Oliver Hilmes decodes the Wagner cosmos by portraying the descendants of the flamboyant composer’s widow and describing their struggle for power on the Green Hill in Bayreuth. The exciting epic of a German family and their passionate fight to preserve a dynasty that still captivates us today. A mother, two fathers, and five children - the family of Richard and Cosima Wagner is a cosmos, mysterious and legendary. Just like Thomas Mann's children, the offspring of this fascinating couple bore the heavy burden of their heritage. Self-denial became the fate of Daniela, Blandine, Isolde, Eva, and Siegfried - Cosima's children: Their task was to nurture Richard Wagner's work as the epitome of German culture and to safeguard it. Since this also involved a lot of money, they were not deterred.