A view in The Life of The Monarch of Bayreuth

To continue my previous post, here is something that i wanted to write for many months now but all the time postoponed it.

We all know the works of the biggest (I`ll dare to say) composer this world ever known, Richard Wagner. Most people that i have spoke on the matter, never bother to search further on the everyday life of the composer and the background of the music they hear.
I already had several cds with Wagner`s music and also his book "Judaism in Art" , but things were not so simple in his life. Richard Wagner was an artist-fighter. A true revolutionary who left a peaceful life full of wealth in King's court, and hunted, boycotted, back stabbed and spend most of his life as a fugitive because of his ideas and actions.

Two years ago i came in touch with the Wagner series. This turned out to very imformative and a perfectly maded Epic! A real suprize for me. "Wagner" is a huge nine-hour biographical panorama of his life. So far i had watched it 3 times and i can assure you all that this one of the best series ever. Richard Burton as Richard Wagner did a really impressive performance. Other known actors on this Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Lawrence Olivier and more. The whole filming took over seven months in locations like Switzerland, Bavaria, Venice, Sienna and Hungary.

In the series you`ll be able to see many details of the everyday life of Wagner, the way he wrote and composed the operas, his action during the Dresden Revolution, his life in various coutries, the boycotting of the jews and the jewish composer Giacomo Mayerber. A big "plus" in the series is the great landscapes, the narrator, and ofcourse the soundtrack of the film which is Wagner`s music blended perfectly with the whole atmosphere.

Unfortunately, there is not many places that you can find this Epic available. But Amazon have it for sale:
http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Complete-Epic-Richard-Burton/dp/B0007TFHJS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9/002-4101324-7868045?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1191082024&sr=8-9

Further, if anyone wants to get more details about Richard Wagner and his life, can read his autobiography titled "My life"
Vol.1 : http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5197

Vol.2 : http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5144

"I was, moreover, much impressed by a biography of Mozart which was read aloud; and the newspaper accounts and monthly reports of the events of the Greek War of Independence stirred my imagination deeply. My love for Greece, which afterwards made me turn with enthusiasm to the mythology and history of ancient Hellas, was thus the natural outcome of the intense and painful interest I took in the events of this period. In after years the story of the struggle of the Greeks against the Persians always revived my impressions of this modern revolt of Greece against the Turks."

Richard Wagner "My Life"

Richard Wagner died in Venice in 1883, as long as he lived his dream for a united Germany, reborn from its Mythic/Heroic Past doesn`t became true. Few years later, a man borned in Austria, took the torch and carried Wagner's vision, restored his legacy with the honour and respect that the name truly deserved!

Cola Di Rienzo - The Unknown Roman Revolutionary Hero

Several weeks ago and while listening some parts of Wagner`s "Rienzi" i was wondering, ok we all know more or less the concept behind most of Wagner`s works. But i never checked whats really is "Rienzi", suddenly it came to my mind the words of August Kubitzek about Rienzi and Hitler`s comments about it:

"Rienzi had a great impact upon Hitler. According to August Kubitzek’s own words, Hitler was overtaken by a mystical obssession the very day they watched together for the first time Wagner’s opera, "Rienzi": when they left the opera, Hitler was silent and grim. When they reached a hill, he grabbed Kubitzek’s hands and spoke in a deep, harsh voice, far different from his usual speeches, exclaiming that Providence would bestow upon him a great mission. He was speaking as if he was overtaken by a Force, a Force that was speaking through Hitler. From that evening on, Hitler was ensured for his Fate, waiting for Providence to bestow him his Mission. To put it in Hitler’s words: "…to understand National Socialism, one must first understand Wagner, particularlly Rienzi and Parzifal"."

Searching for the history of Rienzi i founded out an incredible story behind this person. You can read more info about him and his life in wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cola_di_Rienzo


Further, a comrade found out and sent me the link of a book about Rienzi writen by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton in 1835:

Rienzi - The Last of the Roman Tribunes
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=1396


I myself, had not the time yet to check yet deeply this book but from the very few that i read here and there it looks very intresting and informative.Besides, the name of Sir Lytonn alone guarantee this i think.
And while the readers of this blog read this post and probably checking the above mentioned links, you can use as background a 13 min track(Live version) that i uploaded and taken from Wagner`s "Rienzi" and titled "Die Algunder"

http://www.thepaganfront.com/totenkopfpropaganda/DieAlgunderlive.mp3


P.S.1 The photo i post here is from a statue of Rienzi in Rome. The reason that i especially mentioned it here is this:

"The base for the statue is composed of bricks and other fragments from ancient Roman ruins, symbolizing the idea that Rienzo's period of rulership was based on the ideals of the ancient Roman Republic."

P.S.2 Speaking about Richard Wagner, we have not finished yet. In my next post to this blog, i have to show you something related to him that will help anyone who intrested to understand better and deeper the importance of his life and the meaning of his works.

Debunking the Myth of Homosexuality in Ancient Hellas

One of the biggest lies today is that homosexuals was widely accepted in the Ancient Hellenic world, something which ofcourse is a lie. Here is a video (With English subtitles) which you can take a good in-depth view about homosexuality in Ancient Hellas.

Irish Heathens PRIMORDIAL reveal new album

Finally, 2 years after the brilliant "The Gathering Wilderness", the Irish Heathens coming up with a new album. Here is the official Press Statement taken from http://www.primordialweb.com/

PRIMORDIAL – TO THE NAMELESS DEAD

PRESS RELEASE

So we are finally finished the recording of our sixth album. After a few rain sodden weeks locked up in Foel Studios in North Wales “To The Nameless Dead” is for all but mastering and final artwork completed.

This time far away from the chaos and negative influences of a big city the recording process was far smoother and more complete then we have ever known. We left at the end quietly satisfied as opposed to feeling like our nerves were shot and far more stressed then we began. Much of this we owe to Chris Fielding who engineered it and put many long hours into its creation and to Dave Anderson who has created something we can only call a “good vibe” in the middle of nowhere far from the meddling influence of civilisation….immense thanks.

The sound is of course instantly recognisable as PRIMORDIAL but more powerful then before, heavier and richer with a much more rounded sound then before. Whereas "The Gathering Wilderness" was a dark often impenetrably bleak work “To The Nameless Dead” has found the fire in its veins to defy, to rebel, to stand up and oppose all. This is a vast and epic album, more pounding and full of rage than PRIMORDIAL has been for many a winter…

It is defiantly at odds with a modern metal scene that often seems to place banality, mediocrity and safety above passion, honesty and truth.It does not sound like a computer recorded it, it does not sound like a procession of riffs simply poached from metals founding fathers, it is not a mindless exercise in musical masturbation. This is Metal as it was meant to be played. With Passion…

We play music because we have to…this is in our veins. This is our culture, our history, our folklore, our heritage. We make no apologies, we will not compromise. And now with our sixth album “To The Nameless Dead” we are about to make our strongest statement yet…

Acta Non Verba

Ad Asperum Finem

Vae Victis

European release date – November 19th

First edition will contain a limited live disc recorded at Rock Hard Open Air in a lavish book format.

Southern Hemisphere rarely dissapoints!

How many of you are familiar with LONG VOYAGE BACK?
Its a band created by Phil Gresik who previously involved in other Australian bands like Bestial Warlust/Destroyer 666, Hobbs Angel of Death e.t.c. I noticed several years now the band`s name mentioned in many zines and playlists but for some strage reason i had never checked their material. Yesterday i found a track of them on youtube and i was fucking suprized!!! Long Voyage Back sound totally different from all the other Aussie hordes that most people know. Sounds to my ears like a mix of Irish Primordial (music-wise) combined with chanting-like vocals.
Long Voyage Back stuff now is a top priority for me and its something that i`ll for sure hunt down in the next days.

Ingmar Bergmann lost the chess match with Death at the age of 89

I became familiar with Bergman's works a couple of years ago. My first touch with his films was ofcourse with the Classic Masterpiece "The Seventh Seal" (Original title "Det Sjunde Inseglet"). I was really suprized of how Bergman managed to capture so perfectly the magical atmosphere of the Middle Ages(The excelent performance of Max Von Sydow helped as well into this), the Black Death and the religious themes around it. The Seventh Seal is definately a big chapter in the history of European Cinema. Since "Det Sjunde Inseglet" Bergman created many films which to be honest i have checked only a few ( "Jungfrukällan" is another good film as well), but The Seal and only The Seal is enough to put Bergman in the list of my favorite directors.

Sometimes words are not enough to describe some things.Here you can see the 1957 trailer of "The Seventh Seal", those who already saw the film will understand what i mean, those who dont, i`ll advice you to throw now in the trash can the plastic hollywood carbage and put your hands as soon as possible to the real DARK ART!

Ingmar Bergman died few days ago (30th of July) at his home in Faro island , Sweden.

METAPEDIA:The Alternative Electronic Encyclopedia about Culture, Art, Science, Philosophy and Politics.

Most of you already know the online library Wikipedia. Today i found METAPEDIA, which from the first view i had looks pretty good! I`m always glad to see people like us, with the same passion about our European Heritage & History to come with such nice ideas. They deserve our full support and respect!!!

Below is the Metapedia Mission Statement and link:

Metapedia is an electronic encyclopedia about culture, art, science, philosophy and politics.
The word 'Metapedia' is derived from two concepts from classical greek: 'meta' that means 'outside' or 'beyond'; and 'enkyklios paideia' that means 'encyclopedia'. The name has a dual symbolic meaning:
Metapedia sets its focus on topics that usually are not covered in — i.e. that falls outside of — mainstream encyclopedias.
Metapedia has a metapolitical purpose, to influence the mainstream debate, culture and historical view.
The project is still in its early stages, but the database is growing every day and you are heartily welcome to contribute to the growth of this valuable and unique encyclopedia.

Metapedia:Mission statement

Being able to present one’s own definitions of concepts as well as interpretations of various phenomena and historical events is a vital part of every metapolitical and cultural struggle. This is more important than ever in these modern times, where many concepts have been distorted and lost their original meaning – which can be regarded as a result of our political opponents’ successful cultural struggle.
The possibility to influence the language is vital if you want to shape people’s world view. The Frankfurt school and their ideological heirs are good examples in this regard, and have been very successful in stigmatizing previously natural and sound values and attitudes and making them seem pathological by inventing and popularizing concepts such as "xenophobia” and the like. This clearly illustrates the power of language and words, and it is therefore important that we start re-conquering our languages.
Another important purpose of Metapedia is to become a web resource for pro-European activists. Metapedia makes it easy for our cadres to expand their knowledge on various important subjects, and also functions as a searchable reference.
Furthermore Metapedia gives us the opportunity to present a more balanced and fair image of the pro-European struggle for the general public as well as for academics, who until now have been dependent on strongly biased and hostile “researchers” like Searchlight, Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center, Simon Wiesenthal centre, and such.

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Main_Page