Bayreuth news: Katie gets her next-best man, then proceeds to lose the plot
mainTwo years of dither ended today when Katharina Wagner announced Frank Castorf as director of the 2013 Wagner bicentenary Ring. Frank’s a safe pair of hands, as we said on breaking the story three months ago. He’s not as exciting as first choice, Wim Wenders, but he’ll do.
No sooner were the words Frank and Castorf out of her mouth than Katie announced a rap project, inviting teenagers to give their impressions of old man Wagner in teutonised Afro-Caribbean-MTV style. Brainless, pathetic, demeaning. Ad lib away with adjectives of your own.
“Ad lib away with adjectives of your own.”
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You mean adjectives characterizing Katharina’s grotesque “rap Wagner”, or adjectives characterizing your mindless “Frank’s a safe pair of hands”? Safe for whom? Not for Richard Wagner or the _Ring_ certainly.
ACD
If you have no sense of irony, A. C. Douglas, it’s probably too late for you to grow one.
My sense of irony is just dandy and functioning perfectly, Mr. Lebrecht. If irony is what you intended, I would remind you that in order to make its effect it first needs to be made sensible.
See how that works?
ACD
You say brainless, pathetic, demeaning – fair enough, even if you haven’t seen the results yet. However, it doesn’t take anything away from Wagner’s original works. They’re still there for you to enjoy, regardless of what others choose to make of them.