Looking for Wagner recommendations

I agree that you are diving into the deep end. There are people that spend their whole lives on a quest for the perfect Ring cycle alone.

Buy one of the many opera excerpts discs (silver or vinyl).

then if you decide you love it,go for Tristan and Isolde,then The Flying Dutchman before venturing into the land of the Ring.

Personally I love this music, but Der Walkure puts me right out. All that incestuous swooning in the cave for what seems like hours with no action at all.
Das Rhinegold is the most approachable and the shortest at apporx 4 hours. The others are all 5 hours long. Goetterdamering is the ultimate in Wagnerian moments. After all, it is the twilight of the Gods.

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LOL! Gawbless, god bless you.

No I have no expectations of Wagnerian porn.As I said, Der Walkure is just plain too long and boring.Of course the famous "Ride of the Walkure" is what everyone thinks of when they think of Wagner.Perhaps this is what I don't like.It has become gosh.
To me the immolation scene in Goetterdamering is so incredible that the "Ride" pales by comparison.

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I think it is a common mistake to equate Wagner the man with Wagner the Nazi hero. The Nazi's exploited the "Wagnerian Hero" icon for their own propaganda.Indeed, the idea that Hitler wept when you heard Das Rhinegold brings tears to my eyes....NOT!

One could compare Wagner and the Jews in a similar light as some of the founding fathers with slaves. Everyone loves Jefferson and Washington,and they were slave owners.No one thinks of them as evil,just a product of their time.The same cold be said of Wagner.

You cannot deny the invention of the Leif Motiv as a musical form.

Also the scope of the Ring cycle and the over 25 years in the making is quite literally herculean.

I would suggest taking a look at this non-operatic pieces as well.
His Leider such as "The Ruckert songs" are genius in a completely different way than the operas.

Happy Christmas