The last thing I want is another polemic with Christopher Webber, who ever
the defender of the cause of 'opera' continues to attack Wagner, whereas I
the opponent of opera must defend Wagner against him!  The world is mad.

>Satoshi Akima surely can't be unaware of Wagner's writings, in particular
>"Jewry in Music", where he reasons (if that's the right word) that the Jew
>must be eliminated from German life.  There's nothing perverse in facing
>the plain truth that Hitler had no need to twist Wagner's writings to
>serve his own ends.

I am aware of this writing.  I refer to the lack of racism in Wagner's
musico-dramatic works.  Only if you take a perverse and twisted
interpretation of Wagner will you conclude that this abominable racism
that Wagner advocated in his writings found its way into his major works.
As for this "intense homosexual" stuff in Tristan, things I am afraid are
going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

>Such attempts at whitewashing do Wagner no more good than Satoshi Akima's
>refusal to admit elements of anti-semitism in his Hero's portrayal of
>Alberich; or the intense homosexual strands in "Tristan and Isolde",
>Wagner's sop for the infatuated Ludwig of Bavaria - let alone in
>"Parsifal".  (Note: "elements" and "strands".  They are of course not
>the whole story.)

By "elements" and "strands" I fear you mean figments of an overly fruitful
imagination.

Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia