Klarinet Archive - Posting 000043.txt from 1998/10

From: "George Landis" <George@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Wagner
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 15:40:41 -0400

One cannot becomer overly high-minded about the passions and motiviations =
of those in previous decades or centuries. Should we bannish Mozart from =
our repertoire because he portrayed Monastotos in "The Magic Flute" as an =
evil black man and consistently reserved a lower place in the social and =
intellectual order for women? Should we never perform Richard Strauss =
because he "sold out" to the Nazis? There are MANY school districts who =
ban Mark Twain from their library shelves because he used the word nigger. =
Surely no thinking person believes THAT'S the right thing to do. And on =
and on....

Wagner was a brilliant composer who made an incredible contribution to =
music and theater. We don't have to accept what he, or anyone else, =
thought about any given subject to enjoy the musical experience.

I'll paraphrase Santayana: "Those who cannot enjoy the past are condemned =
to an eternity of Andrew Lloyd Webber."

Regards

_____-------_______
Let's hope Wagner *is* still regarded (as the subject of analysis, =
discussion
and disagreement) 20 years from now, not simply censored out of the =
repertory
at one extreme or played without consideration of his beliefs at the other
extreme.

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
--George Santayana
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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