-Caveat Lector- "Howard R. Davis III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > Just ran across a couple of Wagner jokes that I thought might be of > interest. I have seen a movie of Parsifal and have listened to it many > times on records and CDs. It is one of my favorites, but I know that > many don't enjoy his work as much as I. > > Also, I might mention that I once heard his granddaughter speak. This > was about 30 years ago and she was fairly old at the time. I think her > name was Winnefred. She spoke of the relationship of her grandfather's > music to the Nazis and how much of her family had supported Hitler. She, > however, said that she thought that the "Ring" was symbolic of the Nazis > in that at the end greed destroyed the gods. In fact, the last music the > Berlin Philharmonic played at the end of WW2 was from the "Twilight of > the Gods". > > "Parsifal - the kind of opera that starts at six o'clock and after it has > been going three hours, you look at your watch and it says 6:20." -- > David Randolph > > "One can't judge Wagner's opera Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I > certainly don't intend hearing it a second time." -- Gioacchino Rossini My father studied Germanic philology at the University of Munich in the summer of 1937. While there, he was part of a *Studentenkreis* (student circle) that got together regularly at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten--some foreigners, some Germans. One of the members of the group was a guy named Hermann, who happened to belong to the Allgemeine SS ("General" SS, sort of like the National Guard). Now, Hermann was not really a Nazi. He had joined the SS because of the fancy uniforms, which (according to my father) made it easy for him to pick up girls... Well, one day Reichsmarschall Goering came to Munich for a performance of one of Wagner's operas, and Hermann was one of the local SS called out to serve as an honor guard. They duly lined up along the great staircase leading into the operahouse, waited while Goering lumbered up the steps, and then--because they couldn't be expected to hang around for the five or six hours the opera would take--their commander dismissed them, with orders to return in time to form up for the Reichsmarschall's departure. So Hermann headed on over to the Vier Jahreszeiten, in uniform of course, and in short order had picked up an American girl and headed out to Schwabing, where they went swimming in the moonlight... Needless to say, Hermann did *not* make it back to the operahouse for Goering's departure. In fact, as it happened, he didn't even stay in the SS. When war was declared, he transferred to the Wehrmacht as a medic, and managed to get himself interned in Sweden for most of the war. (Shades of Yossarian...!) Bob ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. RECEIPT OF SPAM WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION OF THE SENDER'S ISP. ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om