My favorite things German, Richard Wagner edition

Here are seven ways -- new for some of you -- to enjoy Wagner:

1. Chuck your highlights disc and listen to Wagner for the endless yelping, barking, and the seesawing of the vocal rhythms.  They call it Sprechstimme.  Listen to Wagner through Alban Berg's Wozzeck.  That's the best way, seriously.

2. Pull out some old piano transcriptions of Wagner, by Liszt and others.  You can track the melodies without being distracted by orchestration or, for that matter, the Sprechstimme.

3. Stop thinking that Lohengrin, The Flying Dutchman, or Tannhaeuser will ever be that enjoyable.

4. Buy Boulez doing Wagner.  The swift Frenchman cuts a whole compact disc out of Parsifal.  That the streamlined approach works so well is a testament to the strength of the music.

5. Read the libretto of The Ring, or the original text of Tristan and Iseult, straight up, with or without the music in the background.

6. While listening to Parsifal, read Nietzsche on Wagner.

7. Listen to the Prelude and Liebestod, from Tristan, over and over again until you go insane.

I do have other good ideas, but this is a family blog.

#36 in a series of 50.