monstrous lie
Infinitely Baffled
Here's a challenge for the Wagnerians out there ...
Throughout all my adult life my listening habits have been conditioned by three principles, which I took up for the simple reason that they consistently worked for me. They were: i) early and baroque music is wonderful but I struggle with later material; anything after Schubert has not been very rewarding, ii) small forces good, large forces bad, and iii) I don't "get" opera.
As a formula for choosing music to listen to, this has served me well. However, as an appraisal of the world of music, it is pretty Neanderthal - and I have always been aware of that but just chose to overlook it. However, with advancing years, and maybe with greater musical curiosity, I find I now want to start looking behind the curtain that I drew across so tightly in my young years. So I have been playing around promiscuously with all sorts of recordings that would never have previously made the playlist, and the results have been really enjoyable - even when they haven't been completely successful. I feel now, though, that I want to tackle the last taboo - Wagner. You will appreciate from my description above, that Wagner breaks all my rules and violates every principle I hold dear. And yet ... and yet ... I know that his music exerts such a hold over some people that it is almost a cult. There is such a devoted following that I can't avoid the conclusion there must be something of monumental proportions (and, presumably, value) behind it. So I want to take a peek.
But where to start? I have had a delightful recording of the Siegfried Idyll for some years. I enjoy it a lot, but that's not really Wagner, is it? Where would the knowledgeable suggest I start to listen in order to sample the "real thing"? Your suggestions would be very welcome, but please bear in mind that though I am a seasoned listener, I am a complete virgin when it comes to large-scale Germanic opera. The choices should, if possible, be approachable as well as authentically Wagnerian. Enjoyable and not just mystical.
Have at it, chums - but please be gentle with me!
ML
Throughout all my adult life my listening habits have been conditioned by three principles, which I took up for the simple reason that they consistently worked for me. They were: i) early and baroque music is wonderful but I struggle with later material; anything after Schubert has not been very rewarding, ii) small forces good, large forces bad, and iii) I don't "get" opera.
As a formula for choosing music to listen to, this has served me well. However, as an appraisal of the world of music, it is pretty Neanderthal - and I have always been aware of that but just chose to overlook it. However, with advancing years, and maybe with greater musical curiosity, I find I now want to start looking behind the curtain that I drew across so tightly in my young years. So I have been playing around promiscuously with all sorts of recordings that would never have previously made the playlist, and the results have been really enjoyable - even when they haven't been completely successful. I feel now, though, that I want to tackle the last taboo - Wagner. You will appreciate from my description above, that Wagner breaks all my rules and violates every principle I hold dear. And yet ... and yet ... I know that his music exerts such a hold over some people that it is almost a cult. There is such a devoted following that I can't avoid the conclusion there must be something of monumental proportions (and, presumably, value) behind it. So I want to take a peek.
But where to start? I have had a delightful recording of the Siegfried Idyll for some years. I enjoy it a lot, but that's not really Wagner, is it? Where would the knowledgeable suggest I start to listen in order to sample the "real thing"? Your suggestions would be very welcome, but please bear in mind that though I am a seasoned listener, I am a complete virgin when it comes to large-scale Germanic opera. The choices should, if possible, be approachable as well as authentically Wagnerian. Enjoyable and not just mystical.
Have at it, chums - but please be gentle with me!
ML