A few weeks ago we in America celebrated Thanksgiving. Members of the family took turns around the table, saying what they were thankful for. I bit my tongue to avoid blurting out, “Barry Millington!” Ever since the 80s, when Millington and Spencer were editing the scholarly magazine for the Wagner Society (London), I have been […]
This past summer I was experiencing the regret of the “more mature” Wagnerian, when rummaging through the bookstores in Bayreuth. These places were my treasure troves 30 years ago. Now, I realized with the vague remorse of increasing age that I either had these books or knew of them and decided not to acquire them. […]
Meistersinger appears on its face to be a paean to German art, expressed in a tribute to German musical heritage. And most pronounced in that heritage is the mastery of counterpoint and of well-tempered tuning. So the great work begins in C-major, ends in C-major, and features passages of fugal writing (such as the Act II riot) […]
In a perceptive (if wordy and miserably edited) article in the program for this summer’s Bayreuth Tännhauser, Edward A. Bortnichak and Paula M. Bortnichak explain the intellectual basis of Sebastian Baumgarten’s production. It has to do with “bioethics,” or how technological progress may have an adverse influence on traditional (i.e., romantic) notions of human...
On my last visit to Bayreuth, the Christoph Marthaler Tristan was the new production. This past visit, it was now at the end of its run and subject to a not-so-fond farewell. As theatre it was still miserable. As a chance to hear Tristan, it was a sensation. Oceans and torrents and waves of sensuality poured out of […]
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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