
Wagner's "
Ring Cycle" is a musical epic, soon to be
performed by the
San Francisco Opera.
Wagner doesn't really have the best reputation (for some good reasons). As the
Wikipedia article on Wagner says, "much heat is generated by Wagner's comments on Jews, which continue to influence the way that his works are regarded, and by the essays he wrote on the nature of race from 1850 onwards, and their putative influence on the antisemitism of Adolf Hitler."
Because I am signed up to see the San Francisco Opera production of
The Ring of the Nibelung, I decided to read the story in an
English translation by Andrew Porter. In this translation, at least, the story turns out to be rather understandable, and full of philosophy. The main point: greed and desire for wealth and mastery put the World of Nature at risk.
Wagner teaches ecology. Really! Click on the image for a
review in the San Francisco Chronicle.
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