Classical Ping
For trivia buffs, Wagner died in the building that now houses the Venice Casino.
Truth be told, “Entry of the Guests” from Tannhauser is about as good as it gets.
I high school music class, we had to do a report on a composer. This was to be an oral report in front of the class.
I told the teacher I wanted to do Wagner, thinking his name sounded alot less foreign that the other composers, and I might be able to understand him. My teacher signed me up, without even correcting me on the pronunciation.
The little jerk was going to let me get up in front of the class as pronounce his name wrong. Luckily somebody corrected me before it got to that.
Anyway, I’ll never forget Wagner.
To paraphrase a VW commercial years ago - “German composing is in the house!”
As a former horn player, Sigfried’s theme, Til euilenspiegel, Tchaikovsky 4 (the opening), and the chorus from Mahler’s 1st, and any or the Gabrielli Canzoni, are near the tippy top of the musical food chain.....for french horn!
Yeah, left some stuff out, but the initial meme is Herr Wagner...
KYPD
It has been said that Wagner would wear white gloves to conduct music written by Jewish composers, then remove them after the performance, throwing them on the stage to have them swept up later.
Wagner’s genius has a lasting appeal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ll4qS4anGo
Excalibur’s symphonic ending
“I’m told that Wagner’s music is much better than it sounds” - Mark Twain
Isn't that like blaming the creator(s) of the good luck sign for Nazism and the "evil swastika"?
Didn't the Dixie Chicks movie Shut Up And Sing teach us ANYTHING? You aren't supposed to criticize or boycott an entertainer simply because of their politics or comments, no matter how offensive.
I decided to introduce him to live opera. I also decided NOT to introduce him to operatic music and drama via Wagner.
I bought tickets for a new and stunning production of "Madama Butterfly" at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago. It was the right move....he sat in his seat through all the acts as if mesmerized.
The Butterfly is a right choice for newbies to opera.....dramatic, melodic and colorful setting-wise.
I know if I brought him to a Wagnerian opera he'd never want to go again. I don't think he could have sat still that long...or could have sat through all the unmelodic recitatives.
The upshot of that lovely evening? He never asked to go to another opera again, anyhow....after all my planning and plotting.
Grrrr......
After listening to the Act III finale of The Valkyrie, with the Magic Fire, over and over and over all weekend, I decided that Wagner was almost an addiction. I listen to the last 15 minutes, four times an hour, for hours on end. I am seriously worried about it. Perhaps no physical dependence, but there is definitely a psychological craving/dependence and tolerance--the more I listen, the more I crave to produce the same effect. It is even making music like Beethoven and Bach sound...plebeian. Now when it gets to that point, it's a pathology. I've always known that I was not quite normal, but this...has me worried.
Do not like Wagner. Musician here. Music without cadences is like a run-on paragraph without punctuation.
I do love me some Tannhäuser.
The Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde is brilliant...as is much his music. That he was a solid gold pr*ck is a separate issue.
I have been to the opera many times over 35 years, but never to Wagner.
Until May 11, when I saw Gotterdamerung at the Met.
Wow. When it was over after 6 hours, I still wanted more.
Ride Wagner RIDE!!!