Wagner's Valhalla

[Brünnhilde ewig]

I did ask him, Ann! Years ago when we were still posting at the NYT forum. He doesn't know either and, what's more, he doesn't care. If Richard Wagner doesn't tell us, than we should accept that we don't need to know. ACD's reply is similar to the article Knight dug up. 

[Anne]

Thanks!  I didn't know that.

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Greer Grimsley, the Wotan in Seattle's 2009 Green Ring.

[knight66]

Looks like your kind of man Lis. Perhaps an extra day would have been a good idea after all.

Mike

[marvinbrown]

Greer Grimsley, the Wotan in Seattle's 2009 Green Ring.

 You know many months ago I called the Seattle opera house from London and asked them if they were ever going to release their "Green Ring" from 2005 on DVD.  On their website they show what is arguably the GREATEST Fafner I have ever seen I just had to get a copy in my collection.  Well, the man at the box office who I spoke to politely informed me that NONE of the Seattle opera Ring Cycle are recorded so there will mever be a DVD released........ .. !  If the Seattle opera house is ever going to compete with the MET a change of policy is in order  !

 marvin

[Brünnhilde ewig]

I am with you, Marvin, all the way! The Seattle Opera has an army of rich supporters, donors, they evidently don't need the income from commercially available DVDs. They most they agree to, is having their operas broadcast on KING FM. I have tried to listen but gave up because of the impossible sound. It was as if the mikes were placed next to all the percussionists and the singers were out in my kitchen.

Their pricing is outrageous! For my ticket - August 26th, Die Walküre - in the orchestra center back section, about 3/4 back from the orchestra, was $323. A friend attended the NY Met last year also for Die Walküre, sat in Center Orchestra, less than halfway from the orchestra and paid $175!

Their fund solicitors are very aggressive with their constant telephone calls; one called me after I had already bought my ticket and she expressed regret because I didn't go for the entire Ring and then reminded me that I had not made any donation since me last one, six month ago!

Apologies for my lengthy gripe, but my experiences mesh perfectly with yours, Marvin: Their wrong attitude.

[Coopmv]

I am with you, Marvin, all the way! The Seattle Opera has an army of rich supporters, donors, they evidently don't need the income from commercially available DVDs. They most they agree to, is having their operas broadcast on KING FM. I have tried to listen but gave up because of the impossible sound. It was as if the mikes were placed next to all the percussionists and the singers were out in my kitchen.

Their pricing is outrageous! For my ticket - August 26th, Die Walküre - in the orchestra center back section, about 3/4 back from the orchestra, was $323. A friend attended the NY Met last year also for Die Walküre, sat in Center Orchestra, less than halfway from the orchestra and paid $175!

Their fund solicitors are very aggressive with their constant telephone calls; one called me after I had already bought my ticket and she expressed regret because I didn't go for the entire Ring and then reminded me that I had not made any donation since me last one, six month ago!

Apologies for my lengthy gripe, but my experiences mesh perfectly with yours, Marvin: Their wrong attitude.

I am not so convinced if the Met is all that wonderful.  While Washington (state) and Oregon are not New York, some of the summer classical music programs available in these locales are no doubt of higher quality than what are available in the NY metro area.  For someone who loves baroque music and Bach in particular, the annual Oregon Bach Festival is probably the best in the US with Helmut Rilling and his Bach-Collegium Stuttgart being regular fixtures ...

[Lilas Pastia]

Am I the only one to have noticed that Kaufmann has turned into a magyar? Well, if one is to believe Lis' orthograph of his first name 

Speaking of magyar Lohengrins, I downloaded a 1958 Bayreuth production with the real article: Sandor Konya. I had the chance to compare with another legendary wagnerian tenor (Windgassen) and to my ears there was no contest. Plus, I'll hage the chance to sample Astrid  Varnay's hair-raising witch of an Ortrud, and Cluytens' passionate, elegant conducting. Download the whole thing for just one euro 

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Ach you are so clever, mein Spezi Andreas! 

If I were to correct my wrong spelling, your funny would be senseless, so I'll leave it and let you enjoy your glory! 

[Lilas Pastia]

No glory there, liebling . I couldn't let pass this occasion to seamlessly slip in my latest Wagner purchase and, by the same token, plug in an excellent music web site!!  Joke apart, Konya sings wonderfully here.

[jlaurson]

Review took a little longer... but as threatened, here it is:

Lohengrin with Kaufmann & Harteros

[Brünnhilde ewig]

There you are, Jens, I have been checking our blog for a few days!

Your well written review - they always are! - leaves some questions in my mind. "Anja Harteros outshone even Jonas Kaufmann". He is not at his best, or he is awesome but she is even awesomer? Jens, somehow I have the feeling you don't like Kaufmann, something missing. You think he is just a flash in the pan? Or has he refused to give you an interview and you are pissed?

Back to the performance: Odd production by Richard Jones but as you reported it to us, not far off, could be understood and accepted; it's simply having to get used to the total difference in locale, period, etc. from other productions usually still in the 'White-Knight' mode.

Thank you Jens, very glad to have you with us, don't leave! 

[knight66]

Thanks for the review. Reading through it, my reaction is that I would be happier to listen to it as against also watch it.

Mike

[Brünnhilde ewig]

I had the same thought, Mike, buy the CD when it comes out. But then there is Das ewig Weibliche dominantly asking for the visual because of this yummy, curly-haired - chest-haired! - Kaufmann. 

[jlaurson]

Your review leaves some questions in my mind. "Anja Harteros outshone even Jonas Kaufmann". He is not at his best, or he is awesome but she is even awesomer? Jens, somehow I have the feeling you don't like Kaufmann, something missing. You think he is just a flash in the pan? 

Back to the performance: Odd production by Richard Jones but as you reported it to us, not far off, could be understood and accepted; it's simply having to get used to the total difference in locale, period, etc. from other productions usually still in the 'White-Knight' mode.

Hmmm... must not have been precise enough in my review:

1.) I like Kaufmann. Great actor, good looking, wonderful singer. Much more than a flash in the pan, given that there are not that many tenors with his set of abilities out there.
It's just that Harteros was, as you say, even awesomer.

2.) Richard Jones' production has more problems than getting used to can solve... I don't see much future for it in the repertoire, lest it be reworked to either explain extraneous ideas or omit them. But it can't undo a cast like that and it could have been so much worse!!!

[marvinbrown]

 Wagner fans, friends, colleagues and affectionados......I am in a silly mood so I decided to post this and get some feedback:

 Leonard Bernstein once said that he "hated Wagner but on bended knee" What the hell is that supposed to mean??   Jealousy? Envy? This love/hate relationship people have with Wagner is very irritating..........  Discuss.......


  EDIT: Ditto Nietzsche who seemed to suffer from the same schizophrenic feelings that Bernstein has.  It's as if both were "blown away" by the operas of Wagner yet wished deep down inside that they had never known them nor Wagner!

 marvin

[jlaurson]

 Leonard Bernstein once said that he "hated Wagner but on bended knee" What the hell is that supposed to mean??   Jealousy? Envy? This love/hate relationship people have with Wagner is very irritating..........  Discuss.......

  EDIT: Ditto Nietzsche who seemed to suffer from the same schizophrenic feelings that Bernstein has.  It's as if both were "blown away" by the operas of Wagner yet wished deep down inside that they had never known them nor Wagner!

Shouldn't be irritating to you. Wagner was an irritating chap. Certainly no one can take objection to those being irritated, who knew him personally--and very well--like Nietzsche. Their relationship is very interesting... Wagner thought he could utilize Nietzsche; Nietzsche adored and learned much from Wagner. Later on, when N. developed his own strong personality and realized that the formerly common ideals he shared or thought to have shared with Wagner, N. got disenchanted. Certainly when Wagner came to champion this strange concoction of  Buddhist flavored, Schoppenhaueristic, retro-Christian wafty religious feeling and aura for his works (Parsifal). N. knew that the music was f&#*(*$ brilliant; but seductive toward ends that he thought were all wrong. That, and in fact jealousy, once Wagner was successful and Nietzsche was still struggling.

Bernstein, now, can't be blamed, either. As a good Jewish boy, Wagner obviously had some aspects of his personality to offer that made him legitimately unpalatable to Lennie. That said, it's a sign of artistic objectivity that Bernstein didn't just say: "Wagner sucks"... but that Wagner was musical greatness that came with pills a little too bitter for Bernstein to swallow on a regular basis.

What exactly LB's thoughts on Wagners' music were, I do not actually know. We certainly know he conducted Tristan well enough.

[Haffner]

Shouldn't be irritating to you. Wagner was an irritating chap. Certainly no one can take objection to those being irritated, who knew him personally--and very well--like Nietzsche. Their relationship is very interesting... Wagner thought he could utilize Nietzsche; Nietzsche adored and learned much from Wagner. Later on, when N. developed his own strong personality and realized that the formerly common ideals he shared or thought to have shared with Wagner, N. got disenchanted. Certainly when Wagner came to champion this strange concoction of  Buddhist flavored, Schoppenhaueristic, retro-Christian wafty religious feeling and aura for his works (Parsifal). N. knew that the music was f&#*(*$ brilliant; but seductive toward ends that he thought were all wrong. That, and in fact jealousy, once Wagner was successful and Nietzsche was still struggling.

Bernstein, now, can't be blamed, either. As a good Jewish boy, Wagner obviously had some aspects of his personality to offer that made him legitimately unpalatable to Lennie. That said, it's a sign of artistic objectivity that Bernstein didn't just say: "Wagner sucks"... but that Wagner was musical greatness that came with pills a little too bitter for Bernstein to swallow on a regular basis.

What exactly LB's thoughts on Wagners' music were, I do not actually know. We certainly know he conducted Tristan well enough.

This is a well thought out post with alot of points that I very much agree with.

I am completely fascinated by Wagner's music and art in general. But his politics I find to be completely idiotic. This includes his boneheaded nationalistic views, his laughable letters to Ludwig outlining his ideas for a "new Germany"... I could go on and on (HE sure as heck did...yawn), but most of you are quite familiar with the most retarded of his views.

From an artistic perspective, it's difficult not have a high regard for Wagner.

[Sergeant Rock]

What exactly LB's thoughts on Wagners' music were, I do not actually know. We certainly know he conducted Tristan well enough.

Bernstein said, "Wagner was a sublime genius...so prophetic, so profoundly understanding of the human condition. At the same time he was the most disagreeable, intolerable megalomaniac." Not specifically about the music but I think we can assume he felt the same way about the notes as about the man. He rarely conducted Wagner, but when he did it almost seemed like an act of worship (i.e., that Tristan).

Interestingly, Bernstein once said he thought he could be the reincarnation of Wagner and some critics have characterized his opera A Quiet Place as an "American Ring." He proposed and partially taped a Wagner program in Vienna for PBS, the subtitle of which would have been, "What's a nice Jewish boy like you doing in a place like this playing racist music." Obviously he had a schizophrenic relationship with Wagner which explains his "bended knee" remark.

Sarge

[Haffner]

Hmmm...I've never heard Bernstein's Wagner, so now of course I'm curious.