Alex Ross: commitment

Transcript context

…Which Wagner? — I’m afraid. Well, I’m getting ready for the publication of the book. I’m building pages on my website, which are a kind of guide to Wagner’s works beyond what I do in the book. And so I’m going to be recommending recordings, as well as giving the synopsis of the plot of the operas and pointing out crucial musical moments. I’m actually working on Rheingold right now. I’m listening to Karajan’s Ring Cycle, which has never been one of my favorites, but I’m revisiting it. And actually, his live Rheingold in 1951 from Bayreuth is amazing. It’s a great recording. He connected that one year in Bayreuth and then never came back because he was Karajan, and there were problems. But it’s a really vigorous and spiky and lively reading of Rheingold, which was always considered the scherzo of the Ring. And he really brings out that quality, quite different from the later recordings, which are rather more polished and slightly overburnished in terms of the texture. It’s all incredibly beautiful, but not necessarily that dramatic. This Rheingold is really fiery and alive. I never really listened to it before, and I was quite pleased to discover it. So anyway, more Wagner today. Alex Ross, thank you very much. And again, everyone, I’m very happy to recommend Alex’s wonderful new book, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. Thank you, Alex.…

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