Klarinet Archive - Posting 000796.txt from 1998/11

From: Claudia Zornow <claudia@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Learning to listen to the Ring cycle
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 17:37:39 -0500

Tony Pay wrote:

>> I'll be in the audience next summer for the SF Opera's production of
>> the Ring cycle. I have a recording, but currently no other study
>> materials. Can the list's collective wisdom recommend books worth
>> studying before the big event?

> I'm no expert on this, but since no-one else has answered, I'll say that
> when I first encountered the Ring at around twenty years of age, I found
> Robert Donington's "Wagner's Ring and its Symbols" a very powerful
> introduction. It looks at the cycle dramatically from a Jungian
> standpoint, as well as being very perceptive about the music. It's also
> highly readable.
>
> There is of course, Newman, and I believe that the first volume of
> Deryck Cooke's unfinished study (I think it's called, "I saw the World
> End") is well thought of.

Thanks for being the first (and only) person to answer. I found and
purchased the Newman and also the Porter translation. Those, with my
14 CDs, should keep me busy for a while. Then I should be ready to
tackle the Donington (didn't see it in stores, but amazon.com has it).

Most bookstores I checked only had William Berger's "Wagner Without
Fear." Out of four or five stores, only Border's had anything resembling
a good selection.

Claudia

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