Tristan und Isolde: 11, 000 Years Old And Counting
Written By The Wagnerian on Monday 31 May 2021 | 3:23:00 pm
The Ain Sakhri Lovers
It takes little for us to shoehorn another story to become one involving Wagner's work. It's also not that difficult, given how much Wagner used mythic archetypes in his work. But as we emerge from lockdown, hopefully, (as to is this site) and places we love reopen, we are taken again to, one of many, a fascinating artefact found in the British Museum.
Tarot card archetype, "The Lovers"
More than 11,000 years before Wagner, or indeed perhaps anyone else, externalised the archetype of the lovers - so prominent in Tristan und Isolde and used therein so effectively - someone found a large pebble in the waters of a river in Wadi Khareitoun, Judea, near Bethlehem. Within its shape that early artist must have seen something that reverberated with him or her, just as Wagner must have done as he read the old grail romance of Tristan und Isolde as told in Gottfried von Strassburg's poem. Unlike Wagner, we know nothing of this person, except that they worked on the pebble, using a stone chisel or antler bone, till it became, what we now know as The Ain Sakhri lovers - the oldest known sculpture of a couple making love.
The Ain Sakhri lovers
This fascinating artefact is easy to miss among so much at the museum, but we really hope, the next time you are there if you get the chance, you take the time to track it down and spend some time with it. Apart from anything else, it is impossible for us to not associate it with act 2 of Tristan.
Hamlet in High Park
-
This year’s Dream in High Park production is Hamlet directed by Jessica
Carmichael. Now Hamlet is an interesting choice for this format because it
is, not...
The Rhine Gothic
-
From the chronicles of the Rhine comes the story of Wotan and the cursed
gold. A Gothic tale of madness, betrayal, and eternal lament, whispered
in hushe...
Reveladoras bondades de la «Pequeña Gran Música»
-
A las puertas del verano, la música clásica parecería huir de Miami hacia
latitudes mas acogedoras, no sabe que inexorablemente por cortesía del
calentamie...
The Painted Orchestra
-
New book!
*The Painted Orchestra* tells the story of an artist’s journey paintings
musicians from Sydney to Maribor, Slovenia, to Wellington, New Zealand....
Books as Objects as Well as Content
-
I’ve recently read two older Wagner books that lend insight not only into
their subject topics, but into the times in which they were written. These
are W...
Lahti
-
I am in Lahti, Finland, to give a talk at the Lahti Symphony's Sibelius
Festival. I've been wanting to visit since I encountered Osmo Vänskä's
revelatory B...
Comps for the MM in Mastersinging
-
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Deutsche Oper Berlin 29.6.22 In the era of
the hyperobject you almost have to salute a production that retains the
visual si...
-
Blog beëindigd. Leidmotief verkaste naar Substack, "the home of great
writing". Klik hier Blog discontinued. Leidmotief migrated to Substack,
"the home of ...
Lies
-
The truth shall set us free.
Okay, fine, except what happens when the truth is obscured in lies? That
now seems to be the situation in the United States....
Book Review: Blood and Iron by Katja Hoyer
-
A Review of Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire
1871–1918 by Katja Hoyer
Amazon Kindle eBook edition (the edition used for the revi...
Sleeping Forever Beneath the Dry Earth (Part 5)
-
Shostakovich talking with Rudolf Barshai in the early 1970s
And here is the final part of my book. I am really pleased with a lot of
what's in this part ...
-
Ligeti, Atmosphères
Wagner, Prelude to Lohengrin Act 1
Berg, Violin Concerto
Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F major
Vienna Philharmonic
Christoph von Dohnányi, ...
El desafío de Werther en Lima
-
*La magnífica ópera de Massenet, obra cumbre del romanticismo francés,
llega en una extraordinaria producción de la Ópera de Colombia, para abrir
la Tempo...
Twerp it.
-
Review – Salome (English National Opera, Friday 28 September 2018) Salome –
Allison Cook Jokanaan – David Soar Herod – Michael Colvin Herodias – Susan
Bick...
Royal Opera House announces Ring Cycles for 2018!
-
Very excited by this announcement. Must start saving now…. ADVANCE
ANNOUNCEMENT Four full cycles performed September–November 2018 The 2018/19
Season open...
continuing as the flying surgeon
-
As some of you may have noticed this blog has been inactive the last couple
of years. When I started this blog I worked in Denmark, but in 2011, after
I be...
The Most Terrifying Aria In All Of Opera
-
The most terrifying aria in all of opera, or why Mozart stands alone as a
composer of dramma per musica. (Our thanks to The Music...
-
*JULES BASTIN, BASSE CHANTANTE*
BASTIN was born in Waterloo in 1933. He was a Belgian operatic bass* who*
made his debut in 1960 at *La Monnaie*, singing ...
Carmen Aldrich
-
Carmen at Chorégie d’Orange was TV live broadcast less than two weeks ago.
Contrary to the Puccini operas or the dreaded Verismo repertoire, Carmen is
alwa...
All-Wagner Concert on Friday, May 21
-
Please join us for "Exquisite Love Duets and Solos by Richard Wagner," on
Friday, May 21, 2010, at Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music, Cambridge,
Massachu...