" Most of the 18th century kinda bores me until we get to Beethoven"
...I hope you're not including Mozart in that?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...who I'd argue is probably the greatest all-around composer of all-time?
And you can argue that maybe there were better composers overall--though I'd still place Mozart at or near #1--but I think it's fair to say he's the best all-around composer, he could do it all and do it all well:
His symphonies are great, varied, and famous...
His piano and violin concertos, also great...
His early Italian operas are still fun...
The Marriage of Figaro is arguably the best comic opera ever written...
The Magic Flute is ALSO arguably the best comic opera ever written...
Don Giovanni is one of the great "dark" operas of all-time...
He had hit operas in not one but two different languages...
His music is some of the most recognizable in the world...
And all without him living to the age of 40.
Maybe Chopin and Beethoven were better on the piano...
Maybe Wagner (ugh!) or Puccini (YAY!) were better with their operas...
Maybe Tchaikovsky was more a pure Romantic and others more experimental--
But Mozart...oh, hell, just go watch "Amadeus," made-up history be damned,
BEST LOVE LETTER-MOVIE TO AN ARTIST *EVER.*
(All while being a surprisingly-sympathetic piece for Salieri as well!)
" My real jam is Wagner,"
...What?
"And finally Wagner <3 <3"
...WHAT?!
"The Ring Cycle!!!!"
You mean that over-hyped, bombastic, overly-nationalistic fantasia for the ideal of German Supermen?
"And his other operas are wonderful. Parsifal is a bit heavy on the Christian symbolism but absolutely wonderful music. Lohengrin, the Flying Dutchman....epic. The Ring Cycle though.....the ultimate story of gods, incest, and the end of the world. Rather long (16ish hours?) but well worth at least a cursory look (for those of you wondering where the Ride of the Valkyries comes from, the second opera in the cycle, Die Walkure, would be it)."
You mean the music of a man who once said he wished all the Jews would just burn in an opera house fire, was arguably the most virulent Anti-Semite in all of musical history (possibly in all of artistic history, which IS saying a lot, but then, so did Wagner), the man who wrote pamphlets to try and kick Jews out of the music scene and ruin Mendelssohn...
Oooooooooh how I hate that wabbit Wagner, I feel the need to
KILL DA WABBIT
KILL DA WABBIT
KILL DA WABBIT--
I'm sorry, I seem to have broken off into Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd territory. :p
But my hatred of Wagner is visceral, I HATE that man, and even if he weren't one of the most despicable men in all of art history, I still say his Ring Cycle is overblown and overrated.
On a documentary about him someone said that if you add Shakespeare and Beethoven you get Wagner.
...
I think that person owes Shakespeare AND Beethoven an apology, right now. :p
And it isn't the length of the Cycle that bothers me--
I'll happily sit down and watch the Henry Plays Richard II/Henry IV 1/Henry IV 2/Henry V in order...that's a genuinely-great epic cycle, in my opinion. (Richard II is a bit soft, but hey, it's sort of The Hobbit to the LOTR of the main 3 plays, and you get Henry IV, Hotspur, and then Prince Hal growing into Henry V and having one of the great up-and-down relationships in all of Shakespeare with one of Shakespeare's most fun characters, Falstaff, and THEN, just when you think that after 3 plays and 11 hours or so the story HAS to peter out, THEN you get some of the best Shakespeare lines in the whole canon--"O for a muse of fire that would Ascend the brightest heaven of invention," "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!" and the entirety of the goddamn St. Crispin's Day speech, which I'm convinced is now the speech you just HAVE to give before a World Cup or Super Bowl game, because how could your team NOT be inspired to victory after that speech, I mean GOOD GOD!!!--AND the whole play is both a brilliant commentary on political power AND it's open to interpretation, so you can have it be a happy ENGLAND, FUCK YEAH! piece or have a more reserved and thoughtful ending the way Branagh has it at the end.)
THAT is a great cycle.
Hell, the Lord of he Rings movies make for a pretty good Cycle.
For a one-opera piece, at 5 hours, Berlioz' "Les Troyens" is pretty good.
But Wagner...I'm sorry, even taking all the terrible things about Wagner the Man and setting then aside, I can't take that seriously, and it just wears on you...I don't know how anyone can stand it for 4 hours, let alone 16!
And again--put on the Henriad, and I WILL BE THERE, all 4 plays, I will be there, beer or wine in hand, ready to go.
I'll even do that for the Henry VI 1-3/Richard III Tetralogy, because even if the first three aren't as acclaimed as other works, knowing it's building to Richard III makes it worth it.
I'll sit through the Oedipus Cycle...Oedipus at Colonus is a bit weak, but Rex and Antigone are powerhouse plays.
I'll sit through the LOTR movies.
But not Wagner, sorry. :p
Wagner was a good composer, his work on the whole IS good...
But he's nowhere on my iPod and likely will forever remain banished.
I'll take Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Puccini, Verdi, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Chopin, Gounod, Lizst, and Mendelssohn all before Wagner, easily, happily.
On Syria, er, Chicago...Uh...
ante -- two days remain until "kickoff," and we only need four more players!
)
)
)
)