The mesmeric musician Vangelis is stupefying (8)
I believe the answer is:
svengali
'the mesmeric musician' is the definition.
'svengali' can be an answer for 'musician' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'the mesmeric' bit.
'vangelis is stupefying' is the wordplay.
'vangelis' anagrams to 'SVENGALI'.
Though, I am unsure how this is indicated.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for svengali that I've seen before include "Leavings of a fictional evil hypnotist" , "Evil person - leavings (anag)" , "Person who controls another's mind - musician and evil genius (created by George du Maurier)" , "(controlling person)" , "Control freak" .)