Re: thought for the week of August 29, 1999

On Tue, 31 Aug 1999, Jonathan Miller <jonmesq[_at_]aol.co> wrote:
>
> Opera-Copyright Enthusiasts
>
> Wagner is hardly ever listed under the rubric of "conservative".
> Various opera companies have produced the Ring Cycle in various
> garbs from a socialist drama in 19th Century clothing (c.f. writings
> of G.B. Shaw) to purely mythological extravaganza. I have been
> fortunate enough to see the entire Ring (approximately 17 1/2 hours)
> four times through while I was studying physics at the University of
> Washington, as well as most of Parsifal later at the Met while living
> in NYC. All of Parsifal was too much for me too! Heroic. Outlandish.
> Extravagant is Wagner. Never conservative.

I agree with Jon that Wagner is not "conservative" -- in either sense of the term. The fact that his music celebrated German mythology, and thus took on nationalist implications that made him very popular with the Nazis, does not offset the fact that Wagner himself was socially, economically, artistically and sexually a scandalous radical for his entire career.

Bob

Robert C. Cumbow
> Graham & Dunn, P.C.
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Received on Wed Sep 01 1999 - 16:10:39 GMT