https://www.dhm.de/ausstellungen/richard-wagner-und-das-deutsche-gefuehl/#/
This was a richly satisfying and thoughtful exhibition. The four sections allowed for a thoughtful meditation on these ideas as they related to Wagner, the man and the composer as well as allowing a biographical picture to emerge. These were Alienation, Belonging, Eros and Disgust.
The range and quality of materials on show was superb – from models of the Festival Theatre to a slipper of Wagners and much contemporary materials which clearly showed how fully and remarkably engaged Wagner was in all aspects of human experience – social, political, family and musical, throughout his life – and how these elements both showed the sort of person that he was (often very unflatteringly) and that he became.
Naturally the aural and visual has to be there as well and there were decent-length excerpts from DVD recordings of his works. The Barrie Koskie ‘soundbox’ was fascinating and even though I do not understand Yiddish, the dramatic idea of sitting and hearing a mix of Wagner’s words and anti-semitic utterances was powerful as the two melded together which they did too I feel, in Wagner the man.