When I was young, Wagner was the first case presented to me of someone who had produced something that was beautiful, yet who was personally utterly despicable. I happen to like Wagner's music, at least most of it, but I continue to find myself torn by the paradox between this beauty and of some of the awful implications seeping through some of his operas, the racism and German nationalism, etc.
I would note that there is somewhat more of a progression (actually regression would be more accurate) in Wagner's work as time passed. His earlier works are more progressive and socialist/revolutionary, with Der Ring des Niebelungen still largely in this vein, despite some clear racist elements within it. But as he aged, Wagner's megalomania and his racist nationalism worsened until they became far more explicit by the time of his final opera, _Parsifal_, although I find at least the music of that opera still beautiful, if not the full content of the opera.
BTW, one of the best essays on Wagner and his convoluted contradictions to this day remains Nietzche's, "Nietzche contra Wagner." Barkley Rosser On Fri, 11 Dec 1998 20:11:17 EST Apsken at aol.com wrote:
> Henry wrote:
>
> << The blemishes in Wagner's life were his alleged racism and anti-Semitism.
> Yet
> well respected Jewish musicians have separated the genius of his music from
> his
> misguided affliction. After all Wagner was merely a product of 19th century
> Europe. >>
>
> Not being a Wagner aficionado myself, I defer to Mark Twain's wisdom:
> "Wagner's music is better than it sounds."
>
> Ken Lawrence
-- Rosser Jr, John Barkley rosserjb at jmu.edu