Many associate Wagner's operas snort and roar of men in animal skins. How different is the judgment of Wagner's greatest critic, the philosopher Nietzsche that his former friend calls the greatest miniaturist of music '' that forces an endless amount of sense and sweetness in the smallest space. " For Nietzsche this was all a symptom of decadence; and yet his statement shows very good weather what
… treasures you will discover when you are moving in Wagner's world: mysterious fantasy' stories about the love potion of Tristan and Isolde, the spear of Wotan, the flames around Brynhild, the sword of Siegfried. .. But the real protagonist is the orchestra that the true intentions and feelings of all those heroes with mother complexes illuminated from below. Starting Wagnerians do well first to listen to a CD of orchestral highlights, so to get a little bit in this complex but fascinating world home. (HJ)more
