Wagnerism
First dispatch from the mystic abyss
Giuseppe Becce as Wagner, 1913.
In three months, Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish my third book, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. I thought I'd write a few blog posts describing the genesis of the project and its gradual voyage toward the appearance of reality. Over the summer, I'll add various auxiliary features to my trusty old website: a general guide to Wagner's works, with recommendations of recordings; a bibliographical essay, touching on topics and sources that fell by the wayside; an index to Wagner on film; and a glossary of Wagnerian jargon, such as "mystic abyss." If I get my act together, I will also present an online chapbook of Bad Wagner Poetry. Whether in-person appearances will be possible in the fall remains to be seen, but we have a string of virtual events scheduled. FSG has an advance excerpt on its Work in Progress blog.
For Larry Kramer
A truly great man is gone. When I was coming out of the closet in 1990—isolated, fearful, semi-suicidal—his words were a blazing torch to me. Perhaps he saved my life, as he did the lives of thousands of others. There is no need to wish for his memory to be eternal.
Archives of the new
Three notable contemporary operas can be seen online on a short-term basis. The Metropolitan Opera is streaming Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de loin, in the production by Robert Lepage. While this staging pales somewhat in comparison to the Peter Sellars original, it does justice to the score and is riveting from start to finish. The stream ends at 630pm ET on May 7. Opera Philadelphia, meanwhile, is reprising Philip Venables's Denis & Katya, one of the highlights of the 2o19 season, and LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects are streaming Du Yun's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angel's Bone, in lieu of the live production they had planned for this spring.
