Tag: Opera
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Samson, a Hero and a Half (iv)
In Judges 16, being ‘controlled by the Spirit of Yahweh’ seems to increase Samson’s sexual, as well as physical, prowess. While visiting Gaza “he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the night”. No moral censure appears in the text. Perhaps Yahweh was willing to let this go, since his aim (recalling…
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Borodin – Amazing Man and Music
One of my loves is Russian music of the later 19th century, That was when Russian music began. Previously there were no Music Conservatories, and no symphony orchestras giving regular concerts. Music was dominated by opera – Italian opera. In his lifetime, Alexander Borodin was seen as a professional Scientist and an amateur Artist. He…
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Mahler and Life and Death
I haven’t blogged for a good few days because I’ve been too ‘re-absorbed’ in the music of one of my three favourite composers, Gustav Mahler, and now I’d like to write something about Mahler and death. I hope you haven’t fled away from that last word, because it’ll catch up with you regardless so, if…
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Wagner – Monstrous and Magnificent
How can we explain, or reconcile, the greatness of Wagner’s musical genius, with the baseness of so much of his life? He was an unsurpassed egotist. The focus of his endless monologues was entirely on himself and his self-assured opinions, to the exclusion or disparagement of others. He was a swindler who cheated people out…
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Mahler and Timelessness
There was an occasion when the composer Gustav Mahler was taking a train journey. Not only was he director of the Vienna State Opera, all the way down from orchestra, singers, scenery and lighting, and stage hands, to box office returns, but in his ‘spare time’ (otherwise known as summer ‘holidays’) he also composed ten…
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