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Don't be scared of Wagner
Daily Telegraph ^ | 5/20/2013 | Sameer Rahim

Posted on 05/21/2013 11:56:02 AM PDT by Borges

Wednesday marks 200 years since the birth of Richard Wagner, the most violently controversial musician in history. His Italian contemporary Verdi – born in the same year – is acknowledged as a genius for all time. But Wagner, though he has the more passionate advocates, also has the most determined detractors. Why, they complain, are his operas so heavy-sounding, so terribly long, so full of weird mythical figures? In short: why are they so German?

When I started going to the opera not so long ago, I was asked which work had drawn me to the art form. Perhaps people expected me to say a lyrical Rossini or delightful Mozart, because I got funny looks when I said it was Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal – the six-hour epic based on medieval legend, featuring the Holy Grail and a castrated sorcerer. “Oh,” said one woman I met, “don’t tell me you’re becoming one of those Wagnerians?” She could barely hide her distaste.

What I loved about Parsifal was that transcendent music was allied to superb drama. Parsifal, an innocent knight, battles his way into a sorcerer’s lair in order to rescue a holy spear. To succeed, he must reject the sexual temptation of the flower maidens who, like the Sirens of Greek mythology, send many a knight to his doom. It might sound a touch silly, but in an age when we’re happy to read deep meanings into fantasies such as The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, ­surely we can be open-minded about Wagner’s plots?

A bigger problem is the Nazi associations.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
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To: RedMonqey

“I love the sound of Wagner in the morning”

“Sounds like.....victory!”

Que in...

“The Ride of the Valkyries”


21 posted on 05/21/2013 12:38:28 PM PDT by RedMonqey ("Gun-free zones" equal "Target-rich environment.")
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To: petro45acp
As a former horn player

Me too. Did you ever play “Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral”? Unbelievable. Starts softly and the whole piece is one gradual crescendo. At the end you are blowing your heart out.

22 posted on 05/21/2013 12:46:52 PM PDT by DManA
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To: Borges; Revolting cat!
A bigger problem is the Nazi associations.

Isn't that like blaming the creator(s) of the good luck sign for Nazism and the "evil swastika"?

23 posted on 05/21/2013 12:47:19 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: lacrew

Ask that teach if the president resides in the Vhite Haus.


24 posted on 05/21/2013 12:48:52 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Borges; Revolting cat!; Slings and Arrows
Wagner’s defenders are not helped by the vile anti-Semitism in the composer’s writings.

Didn't the Dixie Chicks movie Shut Up And Sing teach us ANYTHING? You aren't supposed to criticize or boycott an entertainer simply because of their politics or comments, no matter how offensive.

25 posted on 05/21/2013 12:52:25 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Colonel_Flagg

Nothing was like the Bugs Bunny sendup “What’s Opera, Doc?”

It mixed in Fliegende Hollander, Die Walkure, and Tannhauser among others.

“Oh, Bwunhilde, you’re so wuvwy...”


26 posted on 05/21/2013 12:56:51 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: elcid1970
“Oh, Bwunhilde, you’re so wuvwy...”

"Yes, I know it ... I can't hellllp it..."

27 posted on 05/21/2013 1:01:05 PM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (Blather. Reince. Repeat.)
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To: a fool in paradise
Isn't that like blaming the creator(s) of the good luck sign for Nazism and the "evil swastika"?

It's more Wagner's book about the Jews than the fact that Hitler took him up. He wasn't quite "the Nazis favorite composer" -- plenty of Nazis were bored to death by the Bayreuth festival -- but he definitely had strong feelings against the Jews and certainly was a major influence on Hitler himself.

28 posted on 05/21/2013 1:02:04 PM PDT by x
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To: elcid1970
Nothing was like the Bugs Bunny sendup “What’s Opera, Doc?”

Kwiww the wab-BIT!

Kwiww the wab-BIT!!
29 posted on 05/21/2013 1:03:49 PM PDT by RedMonqey ("Gun-free zones" equal "Target-rich environment.")
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To: left that other site

I like you.


30 posted on 05/21/2013 1:04:01 PM PDT by real saxophonist (If something is TRULY 'common sense', then a law about it is unneccesary.)
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To: Borges
Kill the Wabbit!!!


31 posted on 05/21/2013 1:13:39 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: Borges; mickie; oswegodeee; flaglady47; Bushbacker1; gonzo; hoosiermama; Chigirl 26; ...
Back in the day, my late husband was raised in a hard-working farm family in an era and location where music appreciation was relatively unknown and/or un-cared-for except for the pop hits of the day.

I decided to introduce him to live opera. I also decided NOT to introduce him to operatic music and drama via Wagner.

I bought tickets for a new and stunning production of "Madama Butterfly" at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago. It was the right move....he sat in his seat through all the acts as if mesmerized.

The Butterfly is a right choice for newbies to opera.....dramatic, melodic and colorful setting-wise.

I know if I brought him to a Wagnerian opera he'd never want to go again. I don't think he could have sat still that long...or could have sat through all the unmelodic recitatives.

The upshot of that lovely evening? He never asked to go to another opera again, anyhow....after all my planning and plotting.

Grrrr......

32 posted on 05/21/2013 1:14:50 PM PDT by MinuteGal
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To: Borges
Although I love Parsifal more than any of the others, a couple of weeks ago I sent this in an email message to a friend:

After listening to the Act III finale of The Valkyrie, with the Magic Fire, over and over and over all weekend, I decided that Wagner was almost an addiction. I listen to the last 15 minutes, four times an hour, for hours on end. I am seriously worried about it. Perhaps no physical dependence, but there is definitely a psychological craving/dependence and tolerance--the more I listen, the more I crave to produce the same effect. It is even making music like Beethoven and Bach sound...plebeian. Now when it gets to that point, it's a pathology. I've always known that I was not quite normal, but this...has me worried.

33 posted on 05/21/2013 1:17:09 PM PDT by jammer
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To: left that other site

Those broadcasts care now available in DVD. I have the complete set.


34 posted on 05/21/2013 1:21:34 PM PDT by Publius
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To: RedMonqey
“Sounds like.....victory!”

It does sound like that, but...the Ring is, to me, quite the opposite of what is portrayed by Wagner's detractors. Even considering the ubermensch, Wotan is brought down by his own hubris and, ultimately for trading Freia for Valhalla.

35 posted on 05/21/2013 1:23:31 PM PDT by jammer
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To: Borges

Do not like Wagner. Musician here. Music without cadences is like a run-on paragraph without punctuation.


36 posted on 05/21/2013 1:29:28 PM PDT by bboop (does not suffer fools gladly)
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To: Hardastarboard

Ha, I’m with Mark Twain.


37 posted on 05/21/2013 1:30:00 PM PDT by bboop (does not suffer fools gladly)
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To: bboop

It does have cadences. Just at the end of an Act of an Opera.


38 posted on 05/21/2013 1:31:57 PM PDT by Borges
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To: jammer

Wotan was brought down by making shady deals with shady characters and not expecting to keep his end of the bargain.


39 posted on 05/21/2013 1:32:26 PM PDT by Borges
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To: RedMonqey

“With my spear and my magic helmet!”

“Your spear and your magic helmet?”

“Yes...magic helmet! And I’ll give you a SAM-PLE....!!”

;^)


40 posted on 05/21/2013 1:42:13 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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