(Wikipedia)
The www.wagneropera.net contains as you can imagine, a lot of material on Wagner’s operas. On the page dedicated to the “Der Ring des Nibelungen“, there are two links to videos (two out of three) of the English–Canadian singer and comedienne Anna Russell, explaining Richard Wagner‘s Ring.
The sketch is as funny as a 40 years old sketch can be. That means it has its good parts and some “slow” parts. The interesting fact for me is that I have ever heard the fool story of the “ring” before and Anna Russell’s “lesson” seem to have done a good job for me.
This made me wonder about how much of our musical education (and education in general) gets to us in “proper education” classes and how much in non formal ways? How much do we learn out of curiosity, especially when it comes to non popular music? How much is learned just out of accidentally gathering small pieces of information?
This is the first time I saw Anna Russell but reading Wikipedia it seems that “The Ring of the Nibelungs (An Analysis)” was one of the pieces that made her famous. It may have been written to a more knowledgeable audience than me but it certainly made me curios.
Let me know about your informal music learning experiences!
Related articles
- Downloads Penetrating Wagner’s Ring: An Anthology (Da Capo Paperback) (fmooaca.typepad.com)
- Downloads Wagner Rehearsing the ‘Ring’: An Eye-Witness Account of the Stage Rehearsals of the First Bayreuth Festival book (oaardey.typepad.com)
- Wagner’s Dream: watch clips from the new documentary (guardian.co.uk)
- Spencer Tunick Nude Installation Opens 2012 Munich Opera Festival (laughingsquid.com)
- Wagner’s Dream (U) (morningstaronline.co.uk)
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