The True Test for Wagner-fanaticism

[lukeottevanger]

I would think that if something were worth parodying it'd have to be pretty good to start with. And fairly widely known so most folks would get the meaning.

Something obscure like The Cunning Little Wabbit would fall pretty flat in the laughter department...

Are you saying that Vixen 'wasn't pretty good to start with'? 

Of course, that's one opera with a very close link to the world of cartoons, having been inspired by one.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Are you saying that Vixen 'wasn't pretty good to start with'? 

No, no...

But does this mean you aren't consumed with all things Janacek and could actually sit idly through a cartoon parody of Vixen? Without squirming?

Or would the Janacek fanatic in you come out and start a rampage at such a sight??

It's like the Wagner fanatic test...only the Janacek fanatic test!

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Are you saying that Vixen 'wasn't pretty good to start with'? 

Of course, that's one opera with a very close link to the world of cartoons, having been inspired by one.

But to genuinely answer your question, I just meant that since Vixen was so obscure back then (and now?) a parody of it probably would have gone over the heads of the general cinema-going public. The potential for satire would've been lost since hardly anybody would've known from whence the inspiration/source sprang. Not that it wouldn't have been funny, or clever...just nowhere near as potent.

Unlike the Wagner which I'm sure was judged a pretty safe box office bet. All those characters in funny Viking hats and wacky undergarments worn on the outside were pretty familiar points of reference.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

How about Wabbowwetto?

Less Italian, more Fwench, if you please...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I am a Wagnerian, but I had a good laugh.

Although I took exception to Bunnyhilde and Siegfried singing to music from Tannhäuser. A shame!

[karlhenning]

I am a Wagnerian, but I had a good laugh.

Why, certainly!  There are Wagnerians, Wagnerites, & Wagnerrhoids.

The Wagnerian admires the (musical) work of Wagner, but does not imagine that the musical sun rose and set with Wagner.

The Wagnerite's reason is already a bit clouded with the imagination that with Wagner, the dramatic art supposedly reached a peak, to which it ne'er shall aspire ever again.  The sense of humor is at risk, but not yet entirely disabled.

The Wagnerrhoid has slipped into the zone where the intensity of his admiration for and obsession with The Master makes him a delightfully amusing parody.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Impeccable taxonomy, Karl. 

[jochanaan]

Why, certainly!  There are Wagnerians, Wagnerites, & Wagnerrhoids.

The Wagnerian admires the (musical) work of Wagner, but does not imagine that the musical sun rose and set with Wagner.

The Wagnerite's reason is already a bit clouded with the imagination that with Wagner, the dramatic art supposedly reached a peak, to which it ne'er shall aspire ever again.  The sense of humor is at risk, but not yet entirely disabled.

The Wagnerrhoid has slipped into the zone where the intensity of his admiration for and obsession with The Master makes him a delightfully amusing parody.

I can't "pecc" at those daffynitions either. And by them, I must class myself as "Wagnerian."  But I still laugh at "What's Opera, Doc?"

[marvinbrown]

The Wagnerian admires the (musical) work of Wagner, but does not imagine that the musical sun rose and set with Wagner.

  Rest assured that the actual Sun in its space and time is not governed by Wagner  . That said, somehow, as if by divine intervention, the rest of my music collection (Bach, Beethoven Mozart, Brahms et al.) tends to rotate around Wagner in much the same way Mercury, Venus, Earth et al rotate around the sun  0:). 

  marvin

[Monsieur Croche]

Not at all. A closet Wagnerian sneaks CDs of Parsifal into the bathroom and then emerges hours later claiming he was only reading the interviews in the booklet.

That's what I used to do. These days, though, I sneak CDs of Pelleas et Melisande into the bathroom and then emerge hours latter claiming I was only looking at photos of Mary Garden in the booklet.

Re the cartoon: It is funny, but not elegant enough for my taste. 

[karlhenning]

  Rest assured that the actual Sun in its space and time is not governed by Wagner

It was a kindly thought, Marvin; but fear not, I have never been in the least doubt on this point