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From:  John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
Date:  Mon Oct 2, 2000  11:02 pm
Subject:  I love wagner's music


I do. I went to see the Ring in NYC, and found it worth the travelling
expenses etc. etc. It took me a much longer time to warm to Verdi, and now
that I have developed the instrument to do so I would love to sing Verdi,
but for sheer listening pleasure... But I can easily see why people might
be turned off Wagner - in an age of political incorrectness he expressed
many ideas which nowadays would be intolerable, and the way in which the
Wagner family and Wagner's music was linked to Naziism must be shocking.
Even I, a Wagnerite if ever there was one, cringe when I hear the "heil"s
and "ehren ihre deutshcen Meister" in Meistersinger, not because of
anything Wagner did or thought but because of subsequent horrible history.
But in all conscience I cannot leave the music, and even find his poetry
powerful and affective. john

At 02:11 PM 10/2/00 -0700, you wrote:
...
>> > > Me, I can sit through Verdi. Four hours of Wagner, that's a
>> > > different story.
>> > >
...
>I have a very strong preference for Verdi over Wagner, because most of
>Verdi's arias work beautifully as *drama*, not just music. Perhaps if I
>could see a Wagner opera with a bit of action and singers who can *act*, I'd
>change my mind.
...
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

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