July 2020 issue (vol.14, no.2) of The Wagner Journal

The July 2020 issue (vol.14, no.2) of The Wagner Journal has been published and contains the following feature articles:

‘The Use of Eastern Concepts in Wagner’s Stage Works‘ by Peter Bassett
‘Wagner and the Ottomans‘ by Emre Aracı
’Gender, Japan and the Takarazuka Revue‘s 1968 Tristan und Isolde’ by Brooke McCorkle Okazaki

plus reviews of: Tristan und Isolde in Frankfurt, Die Meistersinger in Dresden, Parsifal in Strasbourg, Die Walküre in Singapore and Siegfried in London; the ROH Walküre under Pappano on DVD; a Tristan with Stuart Skelton and Gun-Brit Barkmin, a Holländer with Franz Crass under Sawallisch (Bayreuth, 1960) and a Walküre under Rattle on CD; Alexander Shapiro‘s The Consolations of History, Diane V. Silverthorne‘s Music, Art and Performance from Liszt to Riot Grrrl and Markus Kiesel et al‘s Wandrer heißt mich die Welt: Auf Wagners Spuren durch Europa

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One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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