ArchiveDecember 2015

Meistersinger: Sachs and Grimes

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It’s one thing to impose an external “konzept” onto a dramatic work and shove the piece unwillingly through it.  American audiences refer to the results as “Eurotrash,” and I would choose the recent, unlamented Bayreuth production of Tannhäuser – staging the work as a divertissement for the workers of a biogas factory in order to investigate […]

Die Meistersinger: Sons-in-Law

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The knight Walther is too often experienced by the audience through Eva’s eyes – handsome, strong, rebellious within acceptable boundaries, virile, dashing, a born artist and a hell of a tenor.  A recent performance of avid McVicar’s insightful Gyndebourne/Chicago/San Francisco production, and a careful listen to the Reginald Goodall English-language recording, suggests that the truth […]

Die Meistersinger: Dreams

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About ten years ago, during a road trip through South Carolina, a dear friend from England began talking to me about a dream he’d had.  Oh stop, I implored.  Please don’t even start this.  Dreams are by their nature indescribable.  They are subliminal events, fruit of the id, and any attempt to render them into […]

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The Wagner Blog is a forum for discussion of contemporary themes arising from the works of Richard Wagner. Discussions relating to Wagner’s musical, literary, theatrical, philosophical, political and theoretic work are all appropriate for this forum.

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