it touches my heart- seventy four years after- it is still so vivid, and this wonderful man, despite being from jewish origins he feels the deep beauty in Wagners music. Honestly I never felt attracted to Wagner´s music, but Fischers recitation and dedication made me courious. perhaps I should give a try to the "Parcifal". Fischer speaks about the beauty- the desire and hope for it could unify all human beings. The three basic questions: what is beauty, what is love, is there a god?
The music of Wagner proves that he had very human intentions, he did criticism on judaism but please everybody does criticism on whatever... christians, muslims... etc.. antisemitism in XIX century in Europe was very common as islamophobia today.. His works talk for himself.. everybody can do an interpretation of a sentence but in music we hear the real things
It doesn't prove anything. You can make incredible, humanistic art and still be a bad person. It's undoubtable that Wagner was a great composer, but brushing aside his antisemitism as mere "criticism of Judaism" and comparing it to modern criticism of religion is a flippant understatement. The hostility was racial and pathological, otherwise he would have left people like Mendelssohn--who was Christian by religion since childhood-- alone. It's true that antisemitism in Europe at the time was common, but as the saying goes "an antisemite is someone who hates Jews more than they have to". In contrast to someone like Chopin, who said plenty of nasty things about Jews in private, Wagner went above and beyond and hostility to Jews was a central part of who he was. It's really
Islamophobia is "fear of Islam" I take it? I think the phobia stuff is spread around too flippantly. And you have to look at Wagner as the man in his day. You cannot apply morals over 100 years later as a groundwork. You have to take the person within their time and put them up against the ethics and morals of the day.
One of the minor crimes of the Nazis was their appropriation of Wagner. In order to do that, they had to stand Wagner on his head. The one theme that threads itself through every one of his operas is Redemptive Love. His granddaughter, Friedelind, became a lifelong anti-fascist and tried to rehabilitate her grandfather's true ideology.
"I cannot think of it without feeling violently shaken, so elevated was I by it, so deeply moved... and also, I will not deny it, other really good music, which I have at other times heard and loved, seems, as against this, a misunderstanding! " --Nietzsche letter to his sister (1887)
About the conversion of Levy - my bet is Wagner just wanted to avoid the noise or even scandal from having a Jew conducting the premiere, drawing away attention from his work and himself….
It’s one thing for Fischer ti describe the music as beautiful but he has zero basis to say that “deep down Wagner was a wonderful person”. This notion, that a beautiful creation must indicate a beautiful creator, is entirely bogus.
The interviews with Ivan Fischer are special gems in RUclips.
Inspiring and wonderful
Wonderful interview, thank you so much
all these interviews so heart-rendering and enlightening, real gems.
it's one of the best conductors I know and he's super intelligent also and a very nice person!
Ivan Fisher translates Beethoven 's music exactly the way I feel it. And I AM HUNGARIAN TOO. From the Kodaly school
Finally I’ve fallen under Wagner’s spell & I can’t escape.
Uau!!!!!!! Wonderfull exposition!!!!
it touches my heart- seventy four years after- it is still so vivid, and this wonderful man, despite being from jewish origins he feels the deep beauty in Wagners music. Honestly I never felt attracted to Wagner´s music, but Fischers recitation and dedication made me courious. perhaps I should give a try to the "Parcifal". Fischer speaks about the beauty- the desire and hope for it could unify all human beings. The three basic questions: what is beauty, what is love, is there a god?
The greatest Wagner revelator since Thomas Mann
El arte musical de Wagner, supera y esta por sobre cualquier consideracion politica, racial ó religiosa .
Who is the one that interviews?
The music of Wagner proves that he had very human intentions, he did criticism on judaism but please everybody does criticism on whatever... christians, muslims... etc.. antisemitism in XIX century in Europe was very common as islamophobia today.. His works talk for himself.. everybody can do an interpretation of a sentence but in music we hear the real things
brilliant position!
Un punto de vista muy acertado, saludos cordiales desde Caracas
It doesn't prove anything. You can make incredible, humanistic art and still be a bad person. It's undoubtable that Wagner was a great composer, but brushing aside his antisemitism as mere "criticism of Judaism" and comparing it to modern criticism of religion is a flippant understatement. The hostility was racial and pathological, otherwise he would have left people like Mendelssohn--who was Christian by religion since childhood-- alone.
It's true that antisemitism in Europe at the time was common, but as the saying goes "an antisemite is someone who hates Jews more than they have to". In contrast to someone like Chopin, who said plenty of nasty things about Jews in private, Wagner went above and beyond and hostility to Jews was a central part of who he was. It's really
Yeah I guess
Islamophobia is "fear of Islam" I take it? I think the phobia stuff is spread around too flippantly. And you have to look at Wagner as the man in his day. You cannot apply morals over 100 years later as a groundwork. You have to take the person within their time and put them up against the ethics and morals of the day.
Someone should have asked Wagner to convert to Christianity before composing "Parsifal".
If only Israel could accept Wagner - is it still kind of blacklisted there?
yes
One of the minor crimes of the Nazis was their appropriation of Wagner. In order to do that, they had to stand Wagner on his head. The one theme that threads itself through every one of his operas is Redemptive Love. His granddaughter, Friedelind, became a lifelong anti-fascist and tried to rehabilitate her grandfather's true ideology.
Nitsche broke with Wagner because of Parsifal because it betrays Wagner's previous attitudes towards Christianity.
"I cannot think of it without feeling violently shaken, so elevated was I by it, so deeply moved... and also, I will not deny it, other really good music, which I have at other times heard and loved, seems, as against this, a misunderstanding! "
--Nietzsche letter to his sister (1887)
Not so simple. İt was a long process that finalized in parcfal
About the conversion of Levy - my bet is Wagner just wanted to avoid the noise or even scandal from having a Jew conducting the premiere, drawing away attention from his work and himself….
See “Wagner and Me”
It’s one thing for Fischer ti describe the music as beautiful but he has zero basis to say that “deep down Wagner was a wonderful person”. This notion, that a beautiful creation must indicate a beautiful creator, is entirely bogus.
100% agreed. Wagner could _create_ incredible beauty. That’s it. (Good enough though for us).
beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, including inner beauty.
Awsome !!!