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The Wagner Problem

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Wagner operas have been more subject to radical reinterpretation in recent years than those of any other composer, to the point where it is almost impossible to find a recent DVD of any of his works that the composer would have recognized. Some are gimmicky, but others are serious attempts to come to grips with the legacy of a BRILLIANT, PROBLEMATIC, and personally LOATHSOME genius.

BRILLIANT. Wagner’s brilliant concept of opera forever changed the paradigm. His concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or work involving all the arts, in which acting, scenery, and lighting take an equal part with music, results in operas that are addictive for audiences and catnip for directors.

PROBLEMATIC. Wagner production is problematic because the original style of the operas has led to some of the most abiding cliches in opera (think large ladies in horned helmets), yet they dealt with important issues. How can one ensure that these issues remain relevant to the world today?

LOATHSOME. Dealing with Wagner is loathsome because he was a proud anti-Semitic nationalist. Bad though his personal conduct may have been, its effect was magnified when his work was hijacked by the Third Reich as the face of genocide. Many recent Wagner productions, even at the theater he built in Bayreuth, now try to address this legacy head-on.