Richard Wagner was born 200 years ago today. I’m celebrating by playing Götterdämmerung—the celebrated 1964 Solti recording—while Shirlee’s at lunch.
Back in 2011, Alex Ross wrote a typically insightful essay for the New Yorker that helps explain why Wagner, the man responsible for “the most ambitious work of art ever attempted,” still matters today. Since you’re too late to make the celebration at Bayreuth, why not give it a read?
And please, please, please…ignore the constant reminders that Wagner wasn’t a terribly nice man. Just listen.
*In the words of Anton Bruckner, who dedicated his third symphony to Wagner.
