Compressed Wagner

[umslopogaas]

Dave2002, I think this is about age. I'm 63 and heard Anna Russell on LP when I was at school, a friend's parents had the LPs back in the 1960s. I thought she was funny then and the humour has stayed with me. But I admit, if I heard her for the first time now, I might not find her so funny.

I agree about the Solti 'Ring', it is unsurpassed in my view. But Wagner is the most performed composer at the Proms? Well, if they say so, but I find that very surprising, he's competing against an awful lot of Beethoven and not a little amount of Mozart. I suppose that it is down to length, Mozart wrote an awful lot, but much is quite brief, whereas when Wagner comes on stage you know you are in for a marathon.

While on the subject of funny people, have you tried Michael Flanders? I think he is one of the funniest who ever lived. Perhaps Gerard Hoffnung could run him close ...

[Dave2002]

I agree about the Solti 'Ring', it is unsurpassed in my view. But Wagner is the most performed composer at the Proms? Well, if they say so, but I find that very surprising, he's competing against an awful lot of Beethoven and not a little amount of Mozart. I suppose that it is down to length, Mozart wrote an awful lot, but much is quite brief, whereas when Wagner comes on stage you know you are in for a marathon.

While on the subject of funny people, have you tried Michael Flanders? I think he is one of the funniest who ever lived. Perhaps Gerard Hoffnung could run him close ...

There are a duo of gentlemen operating at least in the Buckinghamshire area who do a Flanders and Swann evening. Extremely entertaining, and towards the end the audience, probably about my age - slightly more than yours - are likely to start chanting "Mud, mud, mud!".

There may be other look alike duos, but these are the only ones I know of.

[Flosshilde]

Umslopogaas

i tried the Anna Russell sketches a while back. I didn't find them very funny - maybe 5/10.

I think that perhaps you have toi be a died-in-the-wool Wagner fanatic to truly appreciate Anna Russel. For someone who isn't real Wagner is parody enough.

[umslopogaas]

Flanders and Swann were brilliantly funny. I've still got the original records. Perhaps you need to be of a certain age to get some of the jokes: "After all, there's no smoke without fire ... nil combustibus pro fumo."

I will elucidate, if anyone asks.

[Ferretfancy]

You should try sitting on the stalls floor! - which is what I did for the Proms performance back in the 70's.

Flosshilde

Unless my memory is at fault. the Proms performance in the 1970s was just the last Act of Gotterdammerung, Birgitt Nilsson as Brunnhilde and Solti conducting. Not exactly a marathon evening, but superb.