Richard Bratby

The problem with Siegfried

Plus: it was a crime to relegate the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland to a midweek teatime slot

issue 18 August 2018

There’s one big problem with Wagner’s Siegfried, and the clue’s in the name. None of Wagner’s mature works hangs so completely upon a single individual. The character himself isn’t really the issue either, however troublesome he might superficially appear (a ‘randy overgrown schoolboy’, if you believe the misguided programme note for this Usher Hall performance).

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