Mats Norrman writes: >I agree that Mime is a comic figure, and this part (Akt II of "Siegfried") >is one of the parts I most appreciate for its humor. I used to say that >there are much humor in Wagners works - and I really don't mean just >"Meistersinger"! I will launch an exkurs on this if anyone is interested! > >So far I agree with Webber, but where he claims the Ring to be "great >pantomime" (funny pun Mr. Webber!), I go with Mr. Akima! Just to clarify, I was referring specifically to this moment in The Ring, and couldn't resist the awful pun. Of course I would never describe the whole 15 hours or so of the work in those terms. I only wanted to assert the fine and varied theatricality of the cycle, and in particular Wagner's very individual and underrated sense of humour, which Mats Norrman clearly relishes too. Personally I find "The Mastersingers" to be the least funny of his works with the exception of "Parsifal" - which only goes to show that Comedy need not be synonymous with Humour. Similarly, Shakespeare's tragedies contain nearly as much humour as the comedies - and of a broader kind. If we're looking at a parallel with Wagner, I think Shakespeare's histories (probably his most distinctive achievement) offer a closer model than either: though unlike Wagner, he wasn't interested in following Greek models. >So the question of how much Schopenhauer influenced Wagner is not so easy >to tell! Wagner apparently mixed thoughts from Schopenhauer, with those of >Bakunin, Proudhon, Feuerbach, and other contemporary philosophers, melting >everything in a pot to something that was his very own. Mats Norrman's qualifications are well made. As he points out, Wagner was a clever philosophical bee, confusedly sucking nectar from all sorts of sources and turning it to his own, very practical and theatrical honey. Christopher Webber, Blackheath, London, UK. http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm "ZARZUELA!"