Phoenix - 'Lisztomania'

One of the most interesting bands to explode onto the music scene this summer, Phoenix continues to impress me the more and more I listen to their album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'. Lyrically they are influenced by the 19th century classics and it is nice to hear that someone making music has an appreciation for the History of Western Music, and can put this all to an upbeat-dance tune. 'Lisztomania' is referencing the German musician and composer Franz Liszt who worked alongside Richard Wagner at Bayreuth, where the music video is filmed. Apparently when Liszt would perform, all the German ladies would pack the theatres completely out until there was standing room only, and they would scream and shout his name, much like he was a Beatle or Elvis, which is why Liszt is called the first classical "pop" star, hence 'Lisztomania. In my little research I did on this I found that a movie was made about his life in the '70s, so if anyone has seen it, please let me know!

Download The Tremulance Remix of this song which, in my opinion, is even catchier than the original.

If you know me, then you know I am fond of Nietzsche, and if you know Nietzsche or Wagner, then you know the significance of Bayreuth, that so inspired me on this post. Here is a quote from a young Nietzsche who still admired what Wagner was doing at the time, but is still very applicable for us today who love theatre and the arts.

"It is quite impossible to produce the highest and purest effect of which the art of the theatre is capable without at the same time effecting innovations everywhere, in morality and politics, in education and society.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche. "Richard Wagner in Bayreuth (1876)," in Untimely Meditations, trans. R. J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: CUP, 1997), 210.