For many years, Wagner was the only opera I could tolerate. Just to see what it was like, I'd bought a record of highlights (Rita Hunter as Brunnhilde), disliked it, but somehow kept returning to it, and eventually ended up playing it every day.

So I was hooked. I scraped together every penny I could (this was back in the 70s) to buy a complete set - Bohm's Bayreuth live version (Solti was out of reach financially) - and played it and played it, night after night, head stuck in the libretto. Went to see Rita Hunter and English National Opera do Gotterdammerung, which I think remains one of the supreme musical experiences of my life. Years later, when cash was in better supply, I added the Goodall ENO set to the collection, but somehow it never quite gripped me in the way Bohm had.

In those days, I either listened to one of the operas complete, or not at all, but as the years went by I became far less purist, and now don't think twice about putting on the 2CD set of Solti highlights, or the Bohm highlights for that matter. Over half a lifetime Wagner gradually just permeated my being. I'm not sure I understand it in any way I could express sensibly (I've read Donington's book but I'm not convinced that it changed the way I listen). What I love is the flavour of it - just hanging out there with 'the guys', listening to those tunes weaving in and out of everything, laden with what seem to be meanings beyond words, all experienced against that vast mythic backdrop. It's true that these days I'm more likely to be listening to Massenet than Wagner; but I'd never have found my way to Massenet if I hadn't ploughed such a deep Wagnerian furrow first.