I woke up early and remembered that the major operas by Richard Wagner which are to do with the stories of the Norse Gods and their later heroic humans (Nibelungen) are all encompassed in something called the Ring Cycle (of which 'Die Götterdämmerung' is the last opera), which to this day is regularly performed at Bayreuth (over 4 nights), of which Cosima Wagner, the widow of Richard Wagner (and daughter of Franz Liszt) became the director. She showed some decidedly anti-semitic sentiments in her selection of singers etc.
Richard Wagner wasn't a very nice person, not in the way he dealt with the women in his life, nor his way he clawed his way to the top - and he was opportunistic. and yes, he was anti-semitic like many of his contemporaries. He lived during a time when Jewish people were finally able to reach top positions and became powerful competitors to the existing middle and upper classes, also in music. Hence anti-semitic sentiment surfaced again, but this time it wasn't the religious angle, but the need to get rid of highly educated and efficient competitors.
I remember watching a program with Stephen Frey, who is an ardent Wagner fan, but he is also Jewish, visiting Bayreuth and talking with one of the descendants of Richard Wagner and Cosima Wagner - and getting the whole story on TV, how Cosima refused to have Jewish singers, musicians perform at Bayreuth. But all that has changed now.
The Ring Cycle is a behemoth of an opera, lasting 15 hours !!! - and Queensland Opera has taken it on for their 2023 season - maybe I'll get myself over there, as it looks interesting - and the climate is warm and hopefully one can go for a swim in between scene changes
Richard Wagner was a genius but also a very flawed human being. He wrote some sublimely gentle and beautiful music in 'Gurre Lieder' and also in 'Tristan and Isolde' and many ear worms; for example:
everyone would have heard 'The Ride of the Walkyries' being one of many -
or his use of the 'Wedding March' (Here comes the Bride) - original composition possibly derived from a folksong, as Felix Mendelssohn had composed and published the same melody 2 years before Wagner - if it is indeed by Mendelssohn, then Richard Wagner is being very devious - he accused Jews in art of copying, well in this case he would have copied Mendelssohn Wedding March, but turned it into a chorus in the opera 'Lohengrin'. Music, art in general has a way mutating away from the original and turning into something new and meaningful for a new generation, even if based on copying something old. Taurisk
