The book by the musician and composer Aurelio Canonici, “Problematiche filosofiche nell’opera di Richard Wagner” (Philosophical Issues in Richard Wagner’s opera) was presented amongst the many activities taking place at the Ravello Festival, this year dedicated to the theme of “Courage”… But the author deals with risk, and he does it by identifying a well-determined perspective, to clarify the philosophical assumptions operating in Wagner’s works. Indeed, Canonici’s interpretation addresses Wagner as a “musician-philosopher”, who “translated philosophical ideas into new musical figurations”… From a more strictly musical viewpoint, in Canonici’s interpretation “the infinite Wagnerian melody may be interpreted as a musical translation of Schopenhauer’s will”, since it constitutes a musical representation of a constant tension between the continually returning dissonance – such as unfulfilled desire – and its resolution in consonance…
Clementina Cantillo, Avanti!, 20 october 2009