Came across this while surfing🏄 classical music forums—specifically, from a Reddit post that shared Tchaikovsky’s reaction after attending the inaugural Bayreuth Festival, where Wagner’s Ring of Nibelungen opera premiered in full.
Tchai’s comment is a remarkable bit of writing—poised, deeply authentic, and politely devastating.
“And so, by way of conclusion, I should like to say something about the overall impression which this performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen has left me with. Firstly, it has left me with a vague recollection of many strikingly beautiful musical features, especially of a symphonic kind, which is very strange, given that Wagner least of all intended to write operas in a symphonic style. Secondly, it has left me with respectful admiration for the author’s tremendous talent and his incredibly rich technique. Thirdly, it has left me with misgivings as to whether Wagner’s view of opera is correct. Fourthly, it has left me greatly exhausted, but at the same time it has also left me with the wish to continue my study of this most complicated work of music ever written.
Even if Der Ring des Nibelungen seems boring in places; even if there is a lot in it which remains unclear and incomprehensible when listening to it for the first time; even if Wagner’s harmony is sometimes marred by excessive intricacy and refinement; even if Wagner’s theory is mistaken; even if there is quite a large dose of aimless quixotry [28] behind this theory; even if his huge work is condemned to rest in eternal sleep in the deserted vault of the Bayreuth Festival Theatre, leaving nothing else behind other than legendary memories of a gigantic endeavour which for a while became the focus of the whole world’s attention—even if that were to happen, it is still the case that Der Ring des Nibelungen will always constitute one of the most significant phenomena in the history of art. Whatever one thinks of Wagner’s titanic work as such, nobody can deny the greatness of the task he has carried out or the strength of his spirit, which impelled him to complete what he had once begun and to realise one of the most tremendous artistic projects ever conceived by the human mind.”
I hadn’t realized Tchaikovsky and Wagner were contemporaries! And what a lesson in how to deliver a critique: respectful, intellectually honest, unflinching.
If you’re ever looking for the high art of saying “I hated this, but respect the hell out of it, still I haaaaate this”—look no further.