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Entry: Right From the Beginning Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/right_from_the_beginning#22793 Post contents: Dr. Cathy, Thanks for the thoughtful comments. A few thoughts of my own: I, too, like to indulge in nostalgia, and I certainly like reading and studying the canon; however, I always sense that with many paleos there's something more -- and effort to retreat. I'd point out that there have always been fascinating historical actors--Konrad Adenauer comes to mind because I writing on him at the moment -- who were filled with a great longing for the past -- in his case, Christendom, the "West" -- but who were able to remain realists and advance modern policy that built on tradition (in Adenauer's case, his reorientation of German policy toward Western Europe.) In some of the counterreformation rants, I sense that some Catholics want to re-open wounds that, one would have thought, heeled over long ago. As for music; I must confess that I've really never much liked Bruckner ... but I am a card-carrying Wagnerian. Furtwängler was a fascinating conductor, even if his wartime recording are a bit tainted. I also like Carlos Kleiber's and Otto Klemperer's readings of this repertory. Who's unbearable, yet so respected, is Knappertsbusch -- his recordings of Wagner give new meaning to the word lugubrious. Sent at: 2008 09 06