James Taylor
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jdtaylorwagner.bsky.social
James Taylor
@jdtaylorwagner.bsky.social
'There is a God! And he's a gag-writer!'

Richard Wagner Society.
Titanic Historical Society.
Member of general human society (reluctantly)
Bit of Wagner for your Sunday evening sir?

Gwyneth Jones James Morris Wagner Die Walküre Final acte 3 San Francisco... youtu.be/XNYX42_lUDY?...
Gwyneth Jones James Morris Wagner Die Walküre Final acte 3 San Francisco 04 06 1985
YouTube video by Allons à l'Opéra
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Wow I didn't know Solti had composed The Planets!!
Oh wait, the real composers name in a tiny font right up in the corner....
December 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Mozart died OTD 1791. Difficult to imagine life without his towering masterpieces.
open.spotify.com/album/7bv09s...
Mozart: Requiem
open.spotify.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Karajan in Dresden around 1980, looking at plans for the rebuilding of the Semperoper (and clearly got a bit hammered the night before).
December 4, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Postcard of the shrine.
December 3, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Act 3, scene 1 of Siegfried mate .... stunning every time.
November 30, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Cathedral moments.
November 29, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Nice to see it back again in P-boro!. Tiny classical section but very decent DVD and Blu-ray choices, and nice to see a fair bit of Chomsky amongst the books!
November 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
If I'm going to listen to Wagner on old East German cassette box sets it's probably only right I do so on a bright orange retro 1970s style player.
Nice solid build quality, but they don't make cassette players as good as they used to... #oldschool #oldman
November 29, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (London, 1985) youtu.be/6c5bWOdIj8c?...
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (London, 1985)
YouTube video by Paukenbecken
youtu.be
November 28, 2025 at 11:10 PM
How does Puccini make such magic?
open.spotify.com/album/3s9vA8...
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (2025 Remaster)
open.spotify.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Boring audiophile collectors post - Wagner's 'Ring' box set on 19 cassettes, the Janowski cycle from Dresden. An original from the GDR 😎 Yes the boxes are as utilitarian as you can get but the Chrome tapes mastered in Dolby Stereo are pretty luxurious...dare I even say bougie! But a fine set.
November 26, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Gustav Mahler being told the same 'funny story' he's heard a billion times before.
November 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Not a fan of how Wagner's music is used in this film, obviously! But intrigued by a 12" record that plays at 45rpm, supposedly giving better sound quality. We'll see...

(And Sir Adrian was a pretty impressive Wagner conductor, shame we didn't get more from him)
November 25, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by James Taylor
This trend in cinema also seems to have bled in to theatre lighting too - I’ve lost count of the number of operas where I’ve wished I could see the singers’ faces.
November 25, 2025 at 7:39 AM
ChatGPT starting a Wagnerian conspiracy theory... so my favourite Meistersinger isn't by Karajan at all but is actually a random East German recording EMI released and just pretended it was?! 😲😂
November 23, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Berglund's Shosty is bloody good innit!
open.spotify.com/album/0Bw9LE...
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 7 "Leningrad" & 11 "The Year 1905"
open.spotify.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Rainy Saturday ... guess I'm staying in with Shostakovich.
November 22, 2025 at 1:54 PM
It's Friday, so as usual it's time for Bruckner's 8th. Obviously.
open.spotify.com/album/6D6un9...
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor
open.spotify.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Got this box set out intending to watch one of the films - went through a disc of cartoons instead. Laughed like an idiot. No regrets.
November 19, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Nelsons's Shosty set is a wonder. Marvellous playing and mostly excellent conducting.
open.spotify.com/album/7CREZm...
Shostakovich: Symphonies; Concertos; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District
open.spotify.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Might start knocking on people's doors and spreading the word... about Bruckner's 7th. If they haven't got the time I'll slip a (CD) booklet through the door. 🤔🙏
open.spotify.com/album/0LFpgJ...
Bruckner: Sinfonie No. 7
open.spotify.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Composer of every week.
BBC Radio 3
Composer of the Week: Wagner

Now Playing
Richard Wagner & Pier Paolo Vincenzi
Piano Sonata in B flat major, Op 1 (2nd mvt, Larghetto)
November 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Time for the traditional Sunday Shosty*.

(*Traditional from hereon)
November 16, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I'm a vinyl fan but some of the pricing for this stuff is a bit ridiculous... I know it's all remastered and on high quality 180g vinyl, but still...
(I got the 1979 New Years Concert discs for a fiver at Notting Hill)
November 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM