Wagner was unequivocally one of the most hateful, unpleasant people who ever walked the Earth.

[sir pball]

That said - the next time the Met Opera does The Ring Cycle, I am absolutely going.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Yup. Wagner's music not a memorial to his evil, but evidence...

that beauty can come from evil. Many will argue with that, and they have that right, but Wagner is dead and his music lives.

Like a Phoenix rising...

[longship]

2. The Ring is an astounding work.

I used to have a copy of what is termed "The Golden Ring" with Georg Solti with an amazing cast. Fifteen CDs, nearly 17 hours of music. Nearly universally acclaimed as the non plus ultra.

Here's Birgit Nilsson as Bruunhilde leaping on her horse and onto Siegfried's funeral pier, the finale.

The soprano has to sing this challenging, extended aria at the end of about four hours of performance.

And here's Anna Russell's hilarious musical analysis of the entire four operas.

Wagner Ring discography (Wiki)

[Dave Starsky]

3. Yeah, fuck that bastard. Seriously.

I didn't know he had passed away.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. A weird but spectacular performance.

Wagner was a dick, but he made some great music. Many great artists were dicks, weirdos or criminals; check out Caravaggio: http://www.salon.com/2017/09/10/caravaggio-the-criminal-how-a-life-on-the-lam-changed-the-baroque-painters-art/ Crazy, violent and brilliant.

[Archae]

5. I watched the entire Ring on PBS years ago.

They had subtitles, so I could understand it.

I loved it.

Wagner himself was a total bastard, when he conducted Mendelsohn's music, he'd wear gloves that he'd throw into the trash after.

[Leith]

6. That's Why I Resist Learning about a Famous Person's Private Life

It spoils the enjoyment of their creation.