Overwhelming

“Small sins are punished by God immediately.” Instead of heeding heavenly advice, Lot’s wife stared at Sodom and Gomorrah, and as a result turned into a pillar of salt. What is the moral of the story? Do not trust your curiosity but rather dutifully follow the lord and master’s instructions? Not really. She was unable to act in any other way. Horror excites. Consequently all great operas are based on death and love. In death and love alike one either stares, spellbound or turns away, subdued and frightened. Should the glance become magnetic, he who is unable to tear his eyes away can shatter from curiosity. The overwhelming should engulf us: love, death, birth, catastrophes, happiness – all threaten but entice us. They are foreign yet mystical but at the same time both belong to us while being denied by us. They are personal and private.  With one short glance Lot’s wife was transformed. She looked far back into history, saw how people lived and died and how civilisations turn to ash. To avert what she saw, art was invented – an art which deals with the fate of the world. It can propel people to positions of power or ruin them completely. It is always present, random, unfair and at times, incomprehensible. Today it is virtually impossible to rationally comprehend the problems Wagner’s heroes encounter. Why they suffer and pine is unimportant. What they do and how they take a stand against their fate, how they accept and overcome it, however implausible – now that is overwhelming. It is so powerful it leaves us breathless yet it continues to draw us into the concert halls. Therefore, when the world demands excessive action during a crisis we answer with the overwhelming power of art. When the first audience member stands for an ovation at the conclusion of a performance, a second follows then almost instantly the entire audience jumps to their feet. That is it. That is why we do it. Because enthusiasm spreads like a flame and becomes stronger. It doesn’t simply die after the performance but lingers on – through our sponsors, our circle of friends, and finally in the artists themselves who return to our house time after time. This is what overwhelms us, and we look to the future with a feeling of security. Art does not fluctuate in price. It determines the price.