This Week in Classical Music: May 22, 2023.Wagner.These days when one says “Wagner” the first assumption is that the person is talking about the Russian military group fighting in Ukraine on behalf of the Russian government.The image of the great German composer comes in second.It is not clear why the Russian nationalistic paramilitary organization took such a Western name.As one theory goes, the original founder of the organization, one Dmitry Utkin, a neo-Nazi interested in the history of the Third Reich, took the call sign of Wagner, after Richard Wagner, Adolph Hitler’s favorite composer.This is almost too much: Richard Wagner had enough problems of his own doing to be associated with this murderous group.
Richard Wagner was born on May 22nd of 1813 in Leipzig.That he is a composer of genius goes without saying.That he was a rabid and active antisemite is also very clear.This gets us into a very complicated predicament: what do we do about an evil genius?Do we ignore all the “extraneous” biographical facts and just concentrate on the quality of his music?Or do we, as the Israelis have done, ban his music altogether?We don’t have an answer.A litmus test, suggested by some thinkers, goes like this: if the aspects of the creator’s philosophy, in this case, his antisemitism, have directly affected his works, then we cannot ignore them.If, on the other hand, they did not, then maybe we should concentrate on the work itself and ignore the rest while letting biographers dig into the sordid details.Even given this test we don’t quite know how to qualify Wagner’s work.Wagner’s writings are full of antisemitism, but clearly, they are not what he’s famous for – there were too many antisemites in Germany during his time.His opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg has a whiff of antisemitism while most other operas are free of it.We’re not going to solve this problem today, so just to confirm that we’re talking about a flawed genius, let’s listen to the Prelude to Act I of Parsifal, Wagner’s last opera.This is from the 1972 recording made by Sir Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.This amazing recording also features René Kollo, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Christa Ludwig, all at the top of their form.Wagner prohibited any performances of Parsifal outside of Bayreuth, and that’s how it was for the first 20 years after the premiere.Even though Wagner died in 1883, his widow Cosima, Liszt’s daughter and also an antisemite, wouldn’t allow any other staging.Then, in 1903, a court decided that the Metropolitan Opera could perform Parsifal in New York.Cosima banned all singers who participated in that performance from ever appearing in Bayreuth.Only in 1914 was the ban lifted and immediately 50 opera houses presented it all over Europe.Since then, Parsifal has remained on the stage of all major opera theaters around the world.
Richard Wagner, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: May 22, 2023. Wagner. These days when one says “Wagner” the first assumption is that the person is talking about the Russian military group fighting in
Ukraine on behalf of the Russian government. The image of the great German composer comes in second. It is not clear why the Russian nationalistic paramilitary organization took such a Western name. As one theory goes, the original founder of the organization, one Dmitry Utkin, a neo-Nazi interested in the history of the Third Reich, took the call sign of Wagner, after Richard Wagner, Adolph Hitler’s favorite composer. This is almost too much: Richard Wagner had enough problems of his own doing to be associated with this murderous group.
Richard Wagner was born on May 22nd of 1813 in Leipzig. That he is a composer of genius goes without saying. That he was a rabid and active antisemite is also very clear. This gets us into a very complicated predicament: what do we do about an evil genius? Do we ignore all the “extraneous” biographical facts and just concentrate on the quality of his music? Or do we, as the Israelis have done, ban his music altogether? We don’t have an answer. A litmus test, suggested by some thinkers, goes like this: if the aspects of the creator’s philosophy, in this case, his antisemitism, have directly affected his works, then we cannot ignore them. If, on the other hand, they did not, then maybe we should concentrate on the work itself and ignore the rest while letting biographers dig into the sordid details. Even given this test we don’t quite know how to qualify Wagner’s work. Wagner’s writings are full of antisemitism, but clearly, they are not what he’s famous for – there were too many antisemites in Germany during his time. His opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg has a whiff of antisemitism while most other operas are free of it. We’re not going to solve this problem today, so just to confirm that we’re talking about a flawed genius, let’s listen to the Prelude to Act I of Parsifal, Wagner’s last opera. This is from the 1972 recording made by Sir Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. This amazing recording also features René Kollo, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Christa Ludwig, all at the top of their form. Wagner prohibited any performances of Parsifal outside of Bayreuth, and that’s how it was for the first 20 years after the premiere. Even though Wagner died in 1883, his widow Cosima, Liszt’s daughter and also an antisemite, wouldn’t allow any other staging. Then, in 1903, a court decided that the Metropolitan Opera could perform Parsifal in New York. Cosima banned all singers who participated in that performance from ever appearing in Bayreuth. Only in 1914 was the ban lifted and immediately 50 opera houses presented it all over Europe. Since then, Parsifal has remained on the stage of all major opera theaters around the world.