Goethe's Weimar

'This is a study in "Weimar as a mode of spiritual life', as Thomas Mann might have called it: the spirit of the place reflected in a swift series of sparkling encounters, bewildering in its variety, stirring in its epic scope. 'The vision was conveyed though some splendid acting. . . . Here they are, the secular saints of German Kulturreligion; all conjured up with perfect ease and conviction. This play is about people, some more, some less noble, but all noble in their efforts and, in Faustian fashion, "ever striving". . . 'In the end, what counts is language, the language of poetry (as Herder would have been the first to insist). The verse is effortless and pure, and rises on occasion to noble resonance. . . .The end is sombre, indeed. This mystery play promises no salvation. The sound of cannons is a moving and fitting end to Goethe's Weimar.' Oxford Magazine