Wagner wanted to bring the inner person outside; something which he believed the Greeks had achieved. A fusion of all art forms - music, poetry, drama, dance, and song culminates in a celebration of life and beyond.
Opera had become trivialised and concentrated on the outer being and art was disintegrating. Entertainment was amusement not exploration of conflict or inner self. A desire to achieve perfection, a commendable aim, but from one so flawed of character? It strikes me that his was a personal quest which he was willing to share with the world.
Wagner's opera is, of course, enduring and even now much discussed. However, by whom. Did he and has he touched the masses. How many attended his Operas when first performed and indeed how many do now? The number of times people are heard to say ' Wagner, oh no, too heavy for me' . Those people are Opera lovers. Opera goers form a tiny percentage of the population. The masses appear to be touched by the likes of Pavarotti singing 'tunes' in a popularist milieu. The inner meaning and self reflection flies way above the heads of the crowd.
