Ah Richard Wagner, it’s impossible to mention his name without conjuring up images of Nazi soldiers marching under the salute of fascist leader Hitler. Due to such preconceptions it’s little wonder that admirers of his music do admit with trepidation for fear of being branded an anti-Semite, or something. But in his latest venture into documentary polymath Stephen Fry, a man of Jewish background no less, doesn’t avoid this notion and faces it head on.
On first glance Stephen Fry on Wagner, broadcast on BBC on May 25, 2010 was more about the composer’s anti-Semitism, zeroing in on how his musical reputation has been blemished by his views and the association his work has with the Third Reich. It’s the elephant in the room and although a the reference that people constantly use when speaking of Wagner is one that pretty much has to be addressed. Yet when it got down to it the doc was more about the music.
Fry on Wagner
First off, it’s obvious that Fry holds a genuine appreciation of Wagner’s music regardless of his personal viewpoints, and with any documentation it certainly helps when the on screen host is doing the project through an interest or using their knowledge rather than for the money or because they happen have some flavour of the month fame.
It’s hard not to be swayed by his childish giddiness when observing a rehearsal (Fry even acknowledges his own over excitement at times) or seeing the original score handwritten by the man himself because it touched upon being a personal journey as to why Wagner is so important to him.
Fry didn’t shy from presenting some of Wagner’s more controversial opinions and entertains the theory that Hitler may have been influenced by him (one historian argues that the Nuremburg rally could have taken cues from sections of the Ring Cycle). In a way his view wasn’t about defending Wagner but in how Fry’s eyes it’s about the music and how it shouldn’t be stigmatised because of the Nazis.
Wagner’s Ring Cycle
When the politics was occasionally shoved out of the way the programme gave Fry the opportunity to delve into the conception and development of the Ring Cycle, his four-part opera which took about 20 years to complete, including a glimpse of a revamped Russian production. For some this bum numbing prospect of shouting women and five hour sections would be a torture too far but for Fry it’s heaven. Takes all sorts really doesn’t it?
Stephen Fry on Wagner did perhaps become a touch mawkish when interviewing a Holocaust survivor who lived because she could play cello. However, it was a bit refreshing when she challenged Fry on his choice to watch a Ring Cycle performance at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre but fell short of simply lowering to utter disdain with a “how dare you?” rant.
Overall it was a documentary that was carried by the curiosity and affection by its host who is no doubt used to explaining why he is a fan of the composer. Although anyone who is familiar with Wagner’s work would have learned very little from this exercise, the message really was that sometimes maybe it’s better to ignore the connotations and let the music speak for itself.
Steven Cookson - Steven Cookson is a writer and attempted journalist based in Howden. Originally from Chester, that Hollyoaks place in North-West of ...
