Bert Vierstra
Wagner is surrounded by controverse. Allready in his own days there were the pro's and the con's fighting over him. Even nowadays people still associate him with the Nazi's. How many times don't you see the a marching army with the "Ride of the Valkyries" as background music?. And then the Wagner family itself, the quarrels, the rumours, (was his son Siegfried gay?) isn't this food for tabloids?. Also this opera Parsifal, is full of Wagnerian controverse, does someone really understand what the Master had in mind here?. Was Parsifal really innocent, after killing swans and the lovers of the flowergirls?. Aren't the flowergirls perverse bitches and is the music accompanying their singing thus a farce?. The Holy Grail and the Spear aren't they freudian symbols for genitals?.I don't care, I let the music take me, the ouverture already catches me, and I try to forget everything. Just listen. Also my Balinese neigbors have to listen, and my Pembantu imitates a "cry" from Kundry in the duet with Parsifal.Bali is the same, full of controverse. The poverty, the riches, the whities living here, the corruption, the beauty, the garbage, the killing, the many baby's. An old culture fighting with the new. Enough for a "Ring" or two. I don't care. Already the airport takes me, the smells, the faces of the people, I forget the controverse and just enjoy the ride and the "music" of Bali. Things that make me instantly think of controverse however are cars with airco, house with airco and bungalows surrounded with walls.Yesterday I went with Beate and "Nana" to take some pictures, they will be used for a German magazine, telling about their garbage project here in Pemaron.Here are they, Beate, "Nana" and their two kids, fighting for a cleaner world and fighting against the building of a BEEPING powerplant in "our" beautiful village of Pemaron, in front of their restaurant, Warung Bambu.http://bali-information.com/forumpics/bambu.jpg[/img]
