Wagner's 200 birthday, 22nd May 2013

Started by Sean, May 21, 2013, 02:56:43 PM

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Sean

May 21, 2013, 02:56:43 PM
Today's the big day...

Lisztianwagner

#1
May 21, 2013, 02:59:19 PM
Happy Birthday to Richard Wagner, one of the greatest composers of all time!! ;D
"You cannot expect the Form before the Idea, for they will come into being together." - Arnold Schönberg

snyprrr

#2
May 21, 2013, 05:30:25 PM
And it seems like only yesterday!

Sean

#3
May 22, 2013, 12:40:15 AM
This day will pass but there'll never be another like it for any of us around right now... The 130th of W's death passed a few months ago but today will be looked back at by countless numbers of those self-aware to come.

Presently listening to Simone's Young's Rheingold, which is a fair enough effort though if I was a conductor, which I certainly would never bother being, I'd wonder just what on earth I was doing with the legacy behind me... I saw her in Dutchman in 2010 in Edinburgh and her remarkable vigour was never in doubt. Her Turangalila is essential listening and a landmark recording.

It's over...

North Star

#4
May 22, 2013, 02:16:16 AM
Quote from: Sean on May 22, 2013, 12:40:15 AMthough if I was a conductor, which I certainly would never bother being
Yeah, it must be dreadfully dull...
I'll probably be watching Levine's Met Ring soon, our national broadcasting company plays them all this week, and I've been saving them to the hard drive. It will be the first time I listen to more than just orchestral bits of Wagner, so I'll soon find out how tedious it really is. ;D
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Sean

#5
May 22, 2013, 08:32:35 AM
Levine believes in the music and seems to prepare very thoroughly- I like him.

Ûberstürzter Neumann

#6
May 22, 2013, 10:57:58 AM
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on May 21, 2013, 02:59:19 PM
Happy Birthday to Richard Wagner, one of the greatest composers of all time!! ;D
+ 1. Happy Birthday to one of the true giants of music.

Karl Henning

#7
May 22, 2013, 11:03:26 AM
Or, as a colleague of mine just lately put it:

QuoteRichard Wagner: what an asshat. Good music, though.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Sergeant Rock

#8
May 22, 2013, 11:06:57 AM
Posted today on the Cleveland Orchestra's FB page:




Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

MishaK

#9
May 22, 2013, 11:49:44 AM
If the goal is to celebrate the music and not the man, I think the proper way to celebrate Wagner's birthday might be to just play all the works by other composers who cite and parody Wagner, things like Debussy's Golliwogg's Cakewalk and Shostakovich 15.

Sean

#10
May 22, 2013, 06:03:26 PM Last Edit: May 22, 2013, 11:08:16 PM by Sean
FB page??

The fact is, the big W was as great as Western civilization ever got, all art leading up to and away from Him.

And reflecting our contradictions and problems...

http://

Sean

#11
May 24, 2013, 11:58:58 AM
I guess this topic should've been on the General board- by all means move it...

Concord

#12
May 28, 2013, 07:04:54 AM
Quote from: Sean on May 22, 2013, 06:03:26 PM
FB page??

The fact is, the big W was as great as Western civilization ever got, all art leading up to and away from Him.


No, Mozart was as great as Western civilization ever got. Wagner, much as I like his music, comes off as a parody of what it means to be civilized.

The memorial for Carter was held on the 22nd in NYC, and one person in attendance told me afterward (referring to RW), "Finally, something good happened on this date." Extreme, but I can relate.

Sean

#13
May 29, 2013, 02:23:17 PM Last Edit: May 29, 2013, 02:44:51 PM by Sean
Quote from: Concord on May 28, 2013, 07:04:54 AM
No, Mozart was as great as Western civilization ever got. Wagner, much as I like his music, comes off as a parody of what it means to be civilized.

The memorial for Carter was held on the 22nd in NYC, and one person in attendance told me afterward (referring to RW), "Finally, something good happened on this date." Extreme, but I can relate.

Carter's dead and no more crazy music from him. Yes, that's a bit extreme but I can relate...

North Star

#14
May 29, 2013, 11:39:59 PM
Quote from: Sean on May 29, 2013, 02:23:17 PM
Carter's dead and no more crazy music from him. Yes, that's a bit extreme but I can relate...
Ahem, he died in November... Celebrating his memorial isn't quite the same as celebrating his death.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Sean

#15
May 30, 2013, 04:29:27 PM
Quote from: Concord on May 28, 2013, 07:04:54 AM
No, Mozart was as great as Western civilization ever got. Wagner, much as I like his music, comes off as a parody of what it means to be civilized.

The early death of Mozart was the greatest disaster of Western civilization...

ibanezmonster

#16
May 30, 2013, 05:57:32 PM
Quote from: Sean on May 30, 2013, 04:29:27 PM
The early death of Mozart was the greatest disaster of Western civilization...
Even worse than the Holocaust...  :P
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