Here's something you might be interested in.
The dick of all classical dicks must be Richard Wagner. It's a nice coincidence with his name being Richard and all.
If Lindsay Lohan, Christian Bale, Kim Jong Il, and the Kardashians were all considered to be geniuses, we might get an idea of the extent of Wagner's megalomania.
Wagner was a genius, perhaps a genius amongst geniuses but his self-absorption, antisemitism, and manipulation of King Ludwig II are repulsive.
In addition to that, he liked to become involved with the wives of his greatest supporters and benefactors.
On two occasions, that we know of, Wagner had affairs with the wives of those closest to him. One was Mathilde Wesendonck and the other was Cosima Liszt.
For now, we'll just take a look at Mathilde.
In May 1849, Wagner was the royal court composer for Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony. That is until Wagner wrote incindiary articles urging the people to revolt and force the king into a constituitional monarchy. Wagner also made hand grenades and stood watch during the conflict.
The uprising was smashed and Wagner and his wife Minna were forced to flee. He ended up in Zurich and was befriended by Otto Wessendonck. Otto was a silk merchant and an admirer of Wagner's music. He arranged to build a cottage on his estate for the Wagners.
Otto's wife was an amateur poet named Mathilde. She and Wagner hit if off and were mutually inspired by each other. They wrought each other often and Wagner set five of her poems to music. On Mathilde's birthday, Wagner had a chamber orchestra play one of the pieces under her window.
There is no evidence that Wagner and Mathilde hooked up. Wagner never wrote anything like, "Mathilde? Oh yes, I totally tapped that."
I tend to think that it is naive of us to assume they didn't. In fact, I hope they did because Wagner's wife was deeply depressed and Mathilde was something of a trophy wife. For two people to connect on a level deep enough to leave us the Wessendonck Lieder, my hope is that they were able to enjoy each other deeply and intimately at some point.
Mathilde is assumed to be one of the inspirations for Tristan und Isolde. Although the primary mover for Tristan was the philosopher Schopenhauer.
Mathilde also gets credit for the tension and forbidden incest in the first act of Die Walkure.
There's not enough time for me to get into the themes of Tristan or the first act of Walkure but look for them in future posts.
Suffice it to say that once again, we are the beneficiaries of dick-ish behavior on the part of a composer.
Here's some of the music inspired by forbidden love.
Traume, the piece played for Mathilde's birthday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIbuCpjRA_E
Isolde's "Love Death" from Tristan. You might recognize this from the final scene in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. I was impressed with his combining the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet with that of Tristan and Isolde.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5_r33sCLYY&feature=related
The dick of all classical dicks must be Richard Wagner. It's a nice coincidence with his name being Richard and all.
If Lindsay Lohan, Christian Bale, Kim Jong Il, and the Kardashians were all considered to be geniuses, we might get an idea of the extent of Wagner's megalomania.
Wagner was a genius, perhaps a genius amongst geniuses but his self-absorption, antisemitism, and manipulation of King Ludwig II are repulsive.
In addition to that, he liked to become involved with the wives of his greatest supporters and benefactors.
On two occasions, that we know of, Wagner had affairs with the wives of those closest to him. One was Mathilde Wesendonck and the other was Cosima Liszt.
For now, we'll just take a look at Mathilde.
In May 1849, Wagner was the royal court composer for Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony. That is until Wagner wrote incindiary articles urging the people to revolt and force the king into a constituitional monarchy. Wagner also made hand grenades and stood watch during the conflict.
The uprising was smashed and Wagner and his wife Minna were forced to flee. He ended up in Zurich and was befriended by Otto Wessendonck. Otto was a silk merchant and an admirer of Wagner's music. He arranged to build a cottage on his estate for the Wagners.
Otto's wife was an amateur poet named Mathilde. She and Wagner hit if off and were mutually inspired by each other. They wrought each other often and Wagner set five of her poems to music. On Mathilde's birthday, Wagner had a chamber orchestra play one of the pieces under her window.
There is no evidence that Wagner and Mathilde hooked up. Wagner never wrote anything like, "Mathilde? Oh yes, I totally tapped that."
I tend to think that it is naive of us to assume they didn't. In fact, I hope they did because Wagner's wife was deeply depressed and Mathilde was something of a trophy wife. For two people to connect on a level deep enough to leave us the Wessendonck Lieder, my hope is that they were able to enjoy each other deeply and intimately at some point.
Mathilde is assumed to be one of the inspirations for Tristan und Isolde. Although the primary mover for Tristan was the philosopher Schopenhauer.
Mathilde also gets credit for the tension and forbidden incest in the first act of Die Walkure.
There's not enough time for me to get into the themes of Tristan or the first act of Walkure but look for them in future posts.
Suffice it to say that once again, we are the beneficiaries of dick-ish behavior on the part of a composer.
Here's some of the music inspired by forbidden love.
Traume, the piece played for Mathilde's birthday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIbuCpjRA_E
Isolde's "Love Death" from Tristan. You might recognize this from the final scene in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. I was impressed with his combining the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet with that of Tristan and Isolde.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5_r33sCLYY&feature=related