Harry Davis details his coolness toward Wagner:
>In earlier years I had read a few of the more scabrous Wagner essays, and
>those foolish and sometimes vile pieces were the foundation for a rejection
>of Wagner decades ago, not just because of his "jew hating" writings, but
>also because other statements seemed silly, poorly reasoned. ...
I'm not a great fan of Wagner's essays, excepting what he has to say about
drama. To me, he is *the* great dramatist of the 19th century, and I'm not
forgetting Ibsen. To me, Wagner's value lies in his stage works.
>... As for the Ring, it's a wandering and inconsistent juvenile fantasy,
>laden (as are other Wagner works) with heavy personal baggage related to
>incest and betrayal.
In my opinion, a bit narrow. To me, the Ring is the great 19th-century
drama and capable of supporting many interpretations. For one involved
interpretation, see Shaw's Perfect Wagnerite. I actually think the use of
incest - dangerous material, I grant you - brilliant, since it is not used
for titillation or pornography and it makes vivid the world of the sagas.
"Juvenile" is the last adjective I'd apply to the Ring. A juvenile work,
it seems to me, would end either in triumphant heroism or unalloyed bathos,
and the Ring ends ambiguously. The Ring is full of adult choices. I think
of Wotan especially - the god who acts knowing he can't really change the
outcome. What's so juvenile about that?
>The librettos and plots, just as is the case with the other works, is
>overwhelmed by gorgeous music, - emotional, sexy, violent, powerful.
>In 20th Century terms Wagner might be pictured re-writing violent.
>sex-oriented comicbooks into verse form and setting the result to music.
Comics have learned from Wagner, though they've yet to equal him.
>... I reinforced the assessment that he was a complete and irredeemable
>ass, an egotistical nut, a psychological mess, a vile and destructive
>personality. It isn't the case of Wagner having spawned Hitler and he
>didn't cause the holocaust, which comments seem to be common. Wagner was
>one of the larger and more flaming jerks on the globe. For me that's quite
>enough to drop him.
That's your prerogative. I agree he's an unlovely personality, but that
same figure gave us the incredible humanity of Meistersinger - essentially
a Roman/Renaissance comedy of marriage raised, as Shakespeare did in The
Tempest and Midsummer Night's Dream, to a whole 'nother level. Since I'm
not going to have dinner with Wagner anytime soon, I refuse to deny myself
the considerable pleasures of the operas. Cutting off my nose to spite
etc.
>A personal perspective: Mark Reizen rendered a moving performance
>of Wotan's farewell to Bru"nnhilde. I feel sad that this marvelous
>singer/actor, said to be a jew, as far as we can tell a thoughtful and
>decent man, by the nature of his assignment had to turn off his critical
>apparatus and accept the part. ...
What makes you think he turned off his critical apparatus? Reizen may
genuinely love the music. Some Jews actually like Wagner's works. I
myself have never seen explicit anti-Semitism in any of his operas. If
Wagner thought of Mime as a Jew, I don't, since I don't recognize myself
in Mime.
Steve Schwartz
|