[f_minor] Fw: off-track

[michael macelletti]

a very good question, for which,  as with seeming all others, i have absolutely 
no answer.  however,  please read :  the monster by deems taylor . the essay has 
been around for a long time.    but as far as providing an answer to the 
question you posed, i think we both might need some help. 



________________________________
From: Pat <pzumst at bluewin.ch>
To: f minor <f_minor at glenngould.org>
Sent: Sat, May 25, 2013 2:59:12 PM
Subject: Re: [f_minor] Fw: off-track


Hi all
 
Good thinking there, presenting GG-related music in the dry season.
 
I have a moral question. Richard Wagner was an arrogant, antisemitic,  cheating, 
wife-beating, pompous, self-grandizing, money-wasting and mostly  overrated 
little git and in short a very nasty piece of work. His music is  pompous, 
bombastic to the extreme, far too loud at times, far too long for sure  and the 
words...this might be fun if you are an english speaker, but I  understand the 
native tongue...
 
Yet...Wagner is one of the most influential (and controversial !) composers  of 
the last 150 years. Without him there would be no Mahler, maybe no Strawinsky  
and definetly no Heavy Metal. And, I am ashamed to say, some of his Overtures  
actually rock...
 
What should one do in such a situation ? Continue to love to hate that  composer 
or try to get into the whole Ring Thing anyway ?
 
I assume that GG was fond of Wagner for purely musicological and artistic  
reasons, but is that enough to justify a Wagner transcription ?
 
Speaking of, here is some fun with Wagner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv7G92F2sqs
 
Pat 
From: michael macelletti 
Sent: Saturday, May 25, 2013 8:20 PM
To: f minor 
Subject: [f_minor] Fw: off-track
   
 



 

Subject: off-track


things have been a bit quiet lately, so i thought i'd make a listening  
recommendation, albeit somewhat off-track. the new remastered solti   wagner  
ring , in the super deluxe edition, is really fabulous.  ( "  greatest recording 
of all time ",  bbc music magazine 2012 .  )    truly a win-win.   although a 
little pricey  ,  it'll probably soon be out of print anyway.   and maybe this  
isn't so off-subject.  gould's wagner interpretations are not too far  removed 
in spirit from the great bayreuth festspielhause conductors such as  
knappertsbusch and furtwangler  from the '50's.  he must have been  familiar 
with their  recordings.                              

 
( and horowitz probably wouldn't have liked their wagner either, i  bet.  )
 
 
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