Klarinet Archive - Posting 000127.txt from 1998/10

From: Jacqueline Eastwood <eastwooj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: [kl] Wagner
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 18:01:30 -0400

Since I'm probably one of very few on this list to have performed the Ring
Cycle as it was intended, over the space of a week, I feel somewhat
compelled to chime in on this discussion.

Before this thread emerged, I knew the history of Wagner's anti-semitism
and other prejudices, his political writings, Hitler's admiration of
Wagner, etc. etc. What I was not aware of were anti-semitic references
contained within the operas of Wagner, a few of which were pointed out by
Dan Leeson. Now, I was rather busy in the pit while the opera was taking
place (counting rests for 15 minutes takes quite a lot of concentration),
but I did make an effort to figure out what was going on up there on the
stage. I can honestly say that nothing struck me as specifically racist
or anti-semitic or directed towards any particular group (expect perhaps
the incest thing was really a bit weird, but hey, who am I to pass
judgement on the gods?)

Anyway, I think the person who said the post-holocaust generations have a
different take on the situation is right. I understand what anti-semitism
is, but the prejudices of 19th century Europe are lost on me. To
conjecture about certain peoples having stenches, for example, makes
absolutely no sense to me and I was not aware of the reference. I thought
Mime was just supposed to be a creep who abused the Nibelungen. Actually
the singer who portrayed Mime was also a creep in real life, so it was
very convincing!

Now, perhaps the staging of the Ring has changed also in the past century:
at the time, perhaps directors deliberately invoked these prejudices and
made them more obvious, and do not do so any more. The artistic director
for our production was Lutz Seelig (spelling?), the son of a fairly
wealthy German industrialist, or so I was told, and to my best guess,
probably gay (I don't know how Wagner felt about homosexuals, but Hitler
didn't like them too much). He wrote some lengthy tome about the mythology
which Wagner adapted to his own uses as well (probably in German). Our
conductor was Stefan Minde; he made disparaging comments about Wagner the
man, but he is one of the leading conductors of Wagner's music in the
world.

To sum up, I respect everyone's personal compunctions in this matter, but
since I feel that, in the context of our current society, the references
to anti-semitic sentiments are so obscured as to be unrecognizable to me,
I would have no hesitation to playing Wagner's music in the future.

I still think Wagner was a creep, but hey, he's dead, so in the end, God
got the last word.

Jacqueline Eastwood
University of Arizona/Arizona Opera Orchestra
*and now* Double Ring Cycle Survivor
eastwooj@-----.edu

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