The perfect Wagnerite, by Bernard Shaw
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The perfect Wagnerite, by Bernard Shaw
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George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was a Nobel-Prize and Oscar-winning Irish playwright, critic and socialist whose influence on Western theatre, culture and politics stretched from the 1880s to his death in 1950. Originally earning his way as an influential London music and theatre critic, Shaw's greatest gift was for the modern drama. Strongly influenced by Henrik Ibsen, he successfully introduced a new realism into English-language drama. He wrote more than 60 plays, among them Man and Superman, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Major Barbara, Saint Joan, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Pygmalion. With his range from biting contemporary satire to historical allegory, Shaw became the leading comedy dramatist of his generation and one of the most important playwrights in the English language since the 17th century.
The perfect Wagnerite, by Bernard Shaw - Published on: 2015-11-27
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .32" w x 6.00" l, .43 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 140 pages
The perfect Wagnerite, by Bernard Shaw
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. still one of the best Ring commentaries in English By Barnaby Thieme That this book is one-sided is well known -- Shaw focuses on The Ring overwhelmingly though the lens of his socio-political and economic interests. Nevertheless, it remains one of the greatest and most illuminating commentaries on The Ring written in English, perhaps surpassed only by Cooke's I Saw the World End.In this short and lively book, Shaw reads The Ring as a dramatic allegory for social evolution, the corrupting influences of political power and capitalism, and the virtues of anarcho-socialist revolution. He finds ample evidence for his interpretation in the biography of Wagner, who fled Germany in exile after his participation in the failed May Revolution of 1849 in Dresden.Shaw spends precious little time on musicological analysis and gives short shrift to The Ring's sustained metaphysical and existential ramifications, which he views as tertiary threads of the narrative that ultimately derail The Ring in Twilight of the Gods. Shaw views the final opera in the series as a dramatic failure which subverts the brilliant structure of the first three operas by resorting to the gestures grand opera in the Meyerbeer style -- a style that Wagner himself stridently attacked for its staginess and melodrama.Shaw is quite right that there is a decisive shift in style and structure in Twilight compared with the preceding three evenings, and I share his opinion that it is the most problematic work, and the most in need of careful interpretation. But it can be included in the integral vision of the cycle if one includes all of the various aspects of the story, and it is obvious to nearly every reader that Shaw does not.That said, if one compares this volume to the dozens of similar pamphlets that appeared in Europe in the early twentieth century one will immediately see why Shaw's work remains a classic while the overwhelming majority of pedantic commentaries have fallen by the wayside. One may differ with Shaw in terms of emphasis, but whereof he speaks he deals with superb insight. Perhaps it need not be added that his prose is of literary caliber.Like Odin, Shaw purchased wisdom for the price of one eye, buying insight at the expense of perspective. But a god remains a god, and Shaw's vision, however one-sided, is as penetrating as his prose is illuminating.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. FRUSTRATINGLY DIDACTIC, BUT STILL FASCINATING By Klingsor Tristan Wagner, it's often said, has had more books written about him than anyone in history with the exceptions of Napoleon and Jesus Christ. This is one of the most fascinating, coming as it does from George Bernard Shaw, a penetrating music critic under the pen-name Corno di Bassetto as well as the familiar dramatist.This is GBS's take on Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung. It is a predictable mix of Shavian wit, perception and frustratingly obstinate didacticism. There is no doubt about the seriousness with which Shaw takes this massive work. He clearly sees it, still fairly fresh in people's experience as it was when his book was written, as one of the seminal works of his time. He writes to prove how much deeper its philosophy was than the simple charming fairy tale many took it for at the time. That he sees it essentially as a Shavian/Fabian fable is hardly surprising. If the book has a weakness it is, as Deryck Cooke points out in his excellent `I Saw the World End', that the whole argument is too narrow, too one-track to accommodate the many facets and many different interpretations that can all, quite justifiably, be placed on the Ring. This of all operatic works is bigger than any of its commentators. Even Shaw was aware of that."Only those of wider consciousness can follow it breathlessly, seeing in it the whole tragedy of human history and the whole horror of the dilemmas from which the world is shrinking today," he wrote.When he wrote the book, Shaw intended it for the Wagner novice, helping them to a fuller understanding of the work - or, at least, how he saw it. It perhaps shouldn't be recommended for that purpose these days, but it still remains an essential read for anyone who has already started down the road to becoming a Perfect Wagnerite. Chances are you won't agree with some/most/any of it. But it is still a fascinating read for anyone with a serious interest in Wagner's works.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Ring as a goad to social revolution By ealovitt In case you're wondering who to blame for the Ring Cycle performances where Wotan is dressed in a frock coat and top hat, and the Rhine Maidens are cavorting in front of a hydroelectric dam, George Bernard Shaw (GBS) might be your villain. "The Perfect Wagnerite" (1898) certainly spends a great deal of print discussing various European revolutions (mainly aborted), and their influence on Wagner's philosophy and music. I admit to having to struggle to figure out that 'Michael Bakoonin' was really Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin, the Russian revolutionary anarchist. GBS props him up and knocks him down several times during the course of the extended essay (89 pages) that constitutes "The Perfect Wagnerite." Although GBS approved of socialism, he was not a fan of anarchism.According to Peter Conrad, author of "Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries," "George Bernard Shaw criticized the 'Ring' for regressing from sternly preachy music drama to Italianate grand opera, from the radical attack on capitalism in 'Das Rheingold' to the nihilistic frivolity of the apocalypse at the end of 'Götterdämmerung." According to GBS, the latter two operas in the Ring Cycle strayed from the theme of social revolution and into the frivolous, although highly entertaining genre of Italian grand opera. You don't have to agree with Shaw's thesis in order to enjoy the wit with which he presents it.My favorite passages in "The Perfect Wagnerite" involve Shaw's interpretation of Wagner's music, rather than his social goals. Shaw himself is of course a self-confessed 'Perfect Wagnerite' who felt that we use great works of art, including the Ring, in order to see into our own souls. Music reaches more deeply into our psyches than words ever can.Robert Donington, author of "Wagner's 'Ring' and its Symbols" remarked that GBS "mingles great sense and great silliness in about equal proportions" in "The Perfect Wagnerite" and GBS left it up to his readers to figure out which was which. This remarkable extended essay is required reading for all fans of Wagner's music dramas.
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