Re: thought for the week of August 29, 1999

On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Timothy Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:

>

Hmmm. Are you kidding? This is a setup, right, Timothy?

I doubt it could be widely known to the CNI-COPYRIGHT readership that your humble moderator holds a B.M. degree in music (vocal and choral was what I graduated with, but actually entered as pianist), and that I sang for several years with the chorus of the Nevada Opera company in Reno, NV. (For those of you who consider Nevada and opera an anachronism, I would refer you to the documented history of the Piper Opera House in Virginia City, NV, circa 1870.)

> I am not aware that Parsifal, or anything else of Wagner's, has
> gotten notoriously bad treatment since its copyright lapsed.

Define "notoriously bad." We're talking art here. Bad is somewhat subjective. B^)

As for performance of Wagner (1813-1883) operas. Among operatic composers, he is somewhat in a class by himself.

It is probably indisputable that more of his works have been performed in the latter half of the 20th century than during his life, but I suspect this is more an issue of *practicality* than anything else. Despite the fears of the Prussian Royal Family, outside of Bayreuth -- which has dedicated itself to the preservation and promotion of Wagner -- there were few opera companies willing or able to stage his elaborate productions. There are even fewer opera patrons willing to sit through a Wagner production, which makes them non-viable financially. Thus, you find Wagner's reticence to see his works performed outside Bayreuth. Beyond staging, the vocal roles in Wagner operas tend to be extremely demanding (in terms of voice type and range), and when you combine that with the extreme length of his works... you tend to find yourself with a *very* short list of vocalists even capable of performing the works in their entirety. Only the growth of the artform outside of its traditional European audience in the 20th century, as marked by the expansion of opera companies in major U.S. metropolitan markets, has made it even possible to find companies and artists to perform Wagner operas.

P.S. I have never attended a performance of any Wagner opera, although I was required to study recordings for my degree and I've been involved in staging scenes in opera theater. The Washington Opera perfomed _Parsifal_ last season, I believe. A friend with season tickets asked me if I would like to attend, but I bowed out gracefully. After all, that was five hours of my life (not counting transit time) I could dedicate to your continued copyright and intellectual property reading pleasure. B^)

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