Klarinet Archive - Posting 000107.txt from 1998/10

From: "George Landis" <George@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Wagner
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 15:44:48 -0400

My point exactly! When we performed Der Rosenkavalier two years ago, and =
Elektra the year before that we were practically bombarded by those who =
were more interested in judging Strauss as a "collaborator" than as an =
important composer of our century.

My argument was always that Strauss was a product of imperial Europe and =
was unprepared to deal with the death of the old world that he loved (Der =
Rosenkavalier is a wonderful metaphor for this). He dropped out as much as =
sold out.

Regards,

George Landis
>>> Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk> =
10/02 3:20 AM >>>
It's isn't fair to claim R. Strauss "sold out". Like most people, most of
the time, he simply wasn't an out-and-out hero.=20
Roger S.

On Thu, 1 Oct 1998, George Landis wrote:

> Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 13:25:54 -0500
> From: George Landis <George@-----.org>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org=20
> To: klarinet@-----.org=20
> Subject: Re: [kl] Wagner
>=20
>=20
> 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....
>=20
> 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.
>=20
> I'll paraphrase Santayana: "Those who cannot enjoy the past are =
condemned to an eternity of Andrew Lloyd Webber."
>=20
> Regards
>=20
>=20
> _____-------_______
> 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.
>=20
> Lelia
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
> --George Santayana
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>=20
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