Roger Scruton’s most recent book, The Ring of Truth, is densely packed with insight. His discussion, very early into the book, of the influences of J.G. Fichte in the moral and philosophical world in which Siegfried struggles for “freedom and individuality” were entirely new to me and very much valued. Among the many helpful analyses […]
Tomorrow I drive down to Washington to attend the Ring. It will be my 17th. My first, at age 25, was the Goodall English-language production at the Coliseum in London, in December 1975, just after I graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. I find myself as excited to hear that E-flat as I […]
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 […]
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 […]
It is a source of unspeakable pleasure for me to learn new things just about every time I attend a Wagner performance. This is especially true where, as is the case with Carmen Jakobi’s production in Longborough, the action of the play is presented so uncluttered and so unencumbered, and the artists’ mission is understood […]
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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