How Al Gore is Ruining Opera

The Atlas Society -- Your Center for Objectivism ^ | 4/11/2007 | Edward Hudgins

[Ed Hudgins]

ehudgins@atlassociety.org

 

April 11, 2007 -- I love opera! Thus recently at the Kennedy Center I saw Die Walküre, the second installment of Richard Wagner's monumental four-part cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, about gods and goddesses, giants and dwarfs, and mortal human heroes. The music, singing and acting were superb. But the program notes seemed like Al Gore channeling Karl Marx.

 

Consider "dramaturg" Cori Ellison's description (bold in the original) of the opera's themes. First, nature:

 

"The despoiling of nature through greed and ambition begins even before the stage action does, with Wotan sacrificing his own eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom and then mutilate the World Ash tree to create his spear. The destruction of our nation's environment also began early in our history, with the violation of our rich natural resources and the pollution and disfigurement of our landscape, which will surely lead to our demise if left unchecked."

 

How terrible that someone had the wisdom to rip metals from the guts of Sacred Earth for the orchestra's horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba; to murder World Ash trees for violins, violas, cellos, basses and stage settings; and to extract marble--the torn-out teeth of Mother Nature--to build the KennedyCenter itself!

 

Next, love:

 

"Alberich's renunciation of love in order obtain riches is startlingly familiar; it is but the Ring's first visible example of the sacrifice of love and ethics on the altars of capitalism and temporal power. One need only read the newspapers … to see this theme played out daily in America."

 

Gee, not even a "Thank you" . . .

[3AngelaD]

How hilarious. “...sacrifice of love and ethics on the altars of capitalism...” As if Wagner ever muttered the term ‘capitalism’ in his entire life. The old boy must be spinning in his grave, or wherever. Imagine having to sit through the Ring cycle and be beaten down by Gore agit-prop at the same time. Sounds like something they would do to recalcitrant terrorists in Guantanamo. I feel for this opera fan.

[Publius]

We've had Wieland Wagner's Nazi "Ring" in the Thirties and Patrice Chereaux' anti-capitalist "Ring" in 1967. (Loge walks on stage in a tuxedo reading the Wall Street Journal.)

This is just another attempt to interpret the "Ring" and sounds like not much more than an update to Chereaux. Perhaps we can call it the "Gore Ring".

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

Wagner was a huge anti-semite and not surprisingly Hitler's favorite composer. The overture to Rienzi in fact became the defacto theme of Hilter's Nazi party rallies. When I play Rienzi at home I can't help imagining goose stepping soldiers, convoys of tanks, long red flags hanging down from building roofs, and Hitler standing there taking it all in. Very powerful music.

[Ed Hudgins]

Yes, the French always screw things up!

[SIDENET]

How Al Gore is Ruining Opera

LOL. When I first glanced at the title, I thought it said:

"How Al Gore is Ruining Oprah"

[sitetest]

Classical Music Ping List ping!

If you want on or off this list, let me know via FR e-mail.

Thanks,

sitetest

[Cyclopean Squid]

Der Fuhrer also really liked Anton Bruckner, who like Hitler hailed from the Linz area and who worshipped Wagner.

[Kaslin]

I thought you meant the browser

[dighton]

“The despoiling of nature through greed and ambition begins even before the stage action does, with Wotan sacrificing his own eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom and then mutilate the World Ash tree to create his spear. The destruction of our nation’s environment also began early in our history, with the violation of our rich natural resources and the pollution and disfigurement of our landscape, which will surely lead to our demise if left unchecked.”

.
A FURIOUS WOTAN LASHES OUT: ‘BLAME RHINEMAIDEN GREED, NOT ME’

Cites Disproportionate Impact on Gods of Valhalla Blaze

[Condor 63]

The arts world is "ass full" of liberals to use a term my daddy used to be fond of. I'd guesstimate roughly 99%

I base that on a previous job of mine where I frequently came into contact with members of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Ballet and Opera Birmingham. I'm not talking about a few, I'm talking about practically all - from guys that paint the scenes on up.

There are a variety of reasons for it but you can just about count on it.

[Borges]

The Ring has been interpreted in terms of just about every social theory in history including Shavian socialism. Wagner’s intentions don’t really come into play and shouldn’t as great art should stand up to all sorts of interpretations. Even shallow fairy tales like the libretto of The Ring.

[Borges]

Should be ‘Fabian socialism’

[3AngelaD]

Go figure. I always thought one of the themes was the conflict between idealism and materialism. I guess that was just my personal bias. Your comments did make me smile, however, when I envisioned GBS and the Webbs sitting at the opera reading the program notes that they had written out loud and bullying the other opera fans to listen.

[steve-b]

I thought it was about how the inventor of the Internet had ruined the Opera browser.

[Borges]

Think about all the ‘Freudian’, ‘Marxist’ and ‘Feminist’ readings applied to Shakespeare throughout the 20th century. Heck English Romantics like Blake and Shelley interpreted Paradise Lost in ways that would have made Milton cross eyed.

[andy58-in-nh]

[ichabod1]

My opera buddy has a recording of a special performance of the Ring performed before a select crowd of SS officers that had caught Hitler’s favor. It’s chilling.

[Ed Hudgins]

That’s post-moderninsm for you. There is no objective reality. Things mean whatever the viewer wants them to mean. Of course, this is a cynical way to diss Western values and to push the left’s agenda. And when you point out that the post-modernists contradict themselves, that if everything is an subjective interpretation, then so are their theories and thoughts, they respond the way Marx did when people asked him “How can you, a bourgeois, understand the working class since you say that the bourgeois mind, formed by capitalist institutions, is biologically incapable of understanding the working class mind?” Both post-modernists and the Marxists from which they came, say “See, you bourgeois minds cannot understand this dialectic logic.” In other words, they’re full of it!

[3AngelaD]

The BBC did a Shakespeare ReTold series that I saw last year, and the Taming of the Shrew episode was absolutely classic. And hilarious. I watched it twice it was so good. Usually I dislike Shakespeare in modern dress, but this one was so well done I had to lower my guard and enjoy it.