Posted by Richard on July 04, 2002 at 20:33:02:
In Reply to: Re: Re: why play wagner? posted by gc on July 04, 2002 at 14:12:44:
Which just goes to show that the baggage that continues to this day to weigh down the Wagnerian muse was carried by the master himself. He was a tortured but brilliant creator, who in his lowest ebbs, blamed others for his difficulties, and for him, others were often Jews.
I've played a bit of Wagner here and there, but this summer I am having the rare (rare if you're not in a top orchestra or opera company) of playing a complete Die Walkure as part of a singers workshop program. I can't describe how intense this is. It's a mostly young orchestra, but very accomplished, well trained, and highly motivated players in all sections. With all the influences that Wagner drew from, and with all that drew from him, his music is like no other. And the Ring Cycle is like no other Wagner. The scoring and voicing of the brass is unique, with horns, Wagner tuben, trumpets, bass trumpet, trombones and contrabass tuba, an ever changing registration of voicing within the orchestra.
With all that, I'll admit that for me, Wagner is a guilty pleasure. His output became icon of Nazi culture. At least two key passages, the concluding chorus of Act I of Lohengrin, and the calling of the Vassals from Act II of Gotterdammerung sound like bund rallies. The people in Israel who oppose Wagnerian performances there are mostly survivors or descendents of Holocaust survivors. Hard to argue with them. That's an experience we can't imagine, and it will take another generation at least for that coil to unravel.
So I'll admit that I am both attracted and repelled by Wagner, but in the final analyses, I surrender to the composer, and am having an incomparable experience this summer.