Der Ring -fairy tale -see Art Schopenhaur please!!
Miguel Rios
Re Derc Ring and fairy tale etc...
I have seen in horror that too many Warnerites appear not
concerned with the philosophical meaning of this cricial
work, at least, they do not appear saying it, and I suspect
that there is a certain lack in this respect.
Wagner associated closely with Schopenhauer, and the ideas
of the latter are found quite clearly inWagner's work. Con-
cepts such as the Will to live, the Representation (The Worl
and its REpresentation). Moreover, from E Kant, Art
(Schopenhaur) took the inference process, wich lead him into
that of the Representation, which in turn makes theater and
art the perfect tool for describing levels of conciousness
the conflict of will and free will, and the rest requires
an essay of many volumes.
To say that the Opera is about power, denotes incomplete un-
derstanding: Life, is the crux, and so Bruhnhilde concludes
the drama, and Siglinde gives birth to a ":free" man,
and Fricka alters Wotan's decisssions... Wagner did
advance well beyond his period, and his contribution to the
field of Psychology I find yet not well recognized, perhaps
because that obscures Freud by far. Schopenhauer Salvation
(salvation from oneself, from "that what should've never been")
is present almost permanently in all parts of the Ring, and
finally consumend by Brunhilde. This is also present
in all the other works, Parsifal the most explicit, Lohengrin,
the most sublime, and so on.., all using art (aesthetics) as
Art Schopenhauer so well expressed in his essays, and Wagner
so well did.
It also breaks my heart to see lies and errors, such as those
written by Gutman, in his book "Wagner... ", and all that
unjustified effort to relate the great master to Adolf and
those sinister ideologies. There is nothing in Wagner's
work, at least the 9 operas I have carefully examined, that
could responsibly be called racist or anti-anything.
Compassion, abnegation, renounciation, acceptance,..etc,
are the values expressed in these great operas, and I will
be glad to see opera lovers emphasizing that contribution
to Humanity, rather than denigration of one of the few
great works we hav ebeen granted.
Disclaim; Mr Rios is not related to this commentary,
which is signed by C P Patrickson, Ottawa.
Peter J. Ullman
I concur with what you are saying, but that still in my opinion does not
justify Rings with power stations, space stations, Wall Street Journals,
etc.
Yes, we can certainly study the dramas and try to understand the deeper
meanings therein, but I do not think that we need the modern directors
own vision (many times eons away from Wagner's conception) forced on us
after paying up to $200 for the privilege.
What's wrong with going back to Wagner's stage directions? We don't
change his librettos even though numerous expressions therein are today
quite out of use?
Monte Stone
>What's wrong with going back to Wagner's stage directions? We >don't change his librettos even though numerous expressions >therei=
n are today quite out of use?
Wagner's stage directions are sometimes laughably impossible.
Read what is required of the Woodbird in Act II of Siegfried.
The little guy is asked to dart this way and that, changing
directions instantly when his motif moves from clarinet to flute,
etc etc. It makes _great_ reading to see how Wagner integrated
the stage movements he wanted with the orchestra, but in
practical terms I am sure it was impossible in Wagner's time and
probably very difficult even now.
Monte Stone ring...@li.com
August Helmbright
Monte Stone <ring...@li.com> wrote:
You are quite correct. Many of Wagner's stage directions cannot be
duplicated in real life (except, perhaps, in a movie or cartoon).
This, however, is not where this thread started. The point is that the
spirit of Wagner's stage directions can be adhered to, and this will
spare us Rings in outer space, on Wall Street, or in concentration
camps. Within the spirit of the stage directions (semi realistic
portrayals of a mythic indeterminate past), there remains a lot of
room for creativity and imagination that I think Wagner would approve
of.
August