Sunday, April 2, 2023

Wagner, Bernstein, and Me

This evening I re-watched a fine documentary on the late, great American conductor Leonard Bernstein; this flick, Leonard Bernstein Reflections, reminded me of an experience of mine:

Years ago I worked at an "optical house" where I was the afternoon shift camera guy. This entailed frequently working into the wee hours of the morning; using the technical side of your brain when it would rather be in sleep mode.

My coworker ― the day cameraman ― would leave the radio on for me after we discussed what it was I had to shoot and how I could shoot it. Unfortunately the radio was tuned to one of the annoying pop stations, which only served to annoy me as I tried to shoot opticals. After a few days of annoyance I decided it would be best for my sanity if I were to change the station to a classical one. Great: I could shoot film while dancing to Schumann's Symphony No 3. (Known to fantasy movie fans as the theme to the 1988 crappic, Willow.)

One night the classical station's host played a little Richard Wagner but before he started rolling the music track he talked a bit about conductor Leonard Bernstein. The maestro was quoted giving his feelings on the uber composer. Wagner was a racist, an anti-Semite, and so on: "I despise him, but I despise him on my knees!"

After I heard that, I was on my knees!



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