"Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour"
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Gioachino Rossini, the well known Italian composer, was a master of opera buffa (comic opera) and well known for his wit and humor. His quote, "Wagner has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour", is packed with layered commentary on the works of Richard Wagner, the prominent German author of the Romantic age understood for his complex operas and long musical structures.
In this declaration, Rossini supplies an incisive critique of Wagner's operatic style. By acknowledging that Wagner's compositions include "beautiful moments", Rossini yields that there are significant sections within Wagner's works that display beauty, development, and psychological power. These minutes could consist of Wagner's mastery of leitmotifs, his abundant orchestration, and his capability to stimulate deep psychological resonance through music. Wagner's developments in consistency and orchestration were groundbreaking and deeply influential, marking treasured instances of musical genius.
However, Rossini juxtaposes this praise with the phrase "dreadful quarters of an hour", indicating that these beautiful minutes are ingrained within longer stretches of music that he considered less engaging or overwrought. Wagner's operas are understood for their considerable length and complexity, typically requiring substantial dedication from their audiences. For some, this can lead to parts that feel tedious or excessively complex, which might have been less appealing to a composer like Rossini, who frequently created more concise and effervescent musical stories.
Rossini's observation might likewise reflect a deeper philosophical difference between the two composers. While Rossini's music frequently focuses on charm, sophistication, and clearness with a keen sense of stagecraft, Wagner pursued a Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total work of art", that incorporated music, poetry, and visual phenomenon into a grand artistic vision. This variation in compositional goals highlights the varied methods to opera throughout the 19th century and talks to the subjective nature of musical satisfaction. Rossini's quip, for that reason, can be viewed as a humorous take on how various creative suitables manifest in the operatic traditions of their particular cultures.
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