Posted by SkyviewTuba on July 04, 2002 at 01:14:37:
In Reply to: why play wagner? posted by gc on July 03, 2002 at 22:38:19:
sure, the man's personal politics were off, but it was he who penned some of the monst well-known, beatiful music known to the world.  Just because Hitler was a fan (just as he was with Strauss) doesn't make him less of a composer.  In fact, many of his works showed a big difference in Nazi belief.  For instance, a typical, ordinary man defeated a great "superhuman".  Besides, Anti-Semitism was extremely common during the period in which Wagner lived, especially in Europe.  His personal politics, although not popular today (in fact, I disagree with them) definitely do not take away from that great opening solo in the "Faust Overture".