Would you consider the Siegfried Idyll a historically "authentic" program, and why?

Question

For example, in music by Johann Sebastian Bach, a harpsichord (rather than a piano) is often used. For a symphony by Haydn or Mozart, the size of the orchestra is reduced. Or the performers using old instruments or reconstructions of old instruments.

Answer 1

Uh, the Siegfried Idyll is not a program, it's a piece that could be on a program. One could mount a historically authentic performance of that work, but frankly the instruments used don't drastically differ from what we use now, so I don't see the point.

Basically, any performance of this work is historically accurate, as long as it's by a major orchestra and done as one would expect.

Answer 2

I don't actually understand the question. Would the Siegfried Idyll be 'authentic' in what way? As compared to what?

As CubCur has stated, for this piece to be faithful to its original purpose, it would have to be performed on a staircase by a few musicians on Christmas Day (Cosima Wagner's birthday, for which the work was composed). Take away the staircase, and one could perform the Siegfried Idyll on mid-nineteenth-century instruments, although modern counterparts would work well as these instruments have changed relatively little since Wagner wrote the piece in 1870. One should only use a chamber orchestra, however, otherwise the intimacy of the music might be lost.

Answer 3

Instinctively, I flounder with Flounder here, as regards the 'program' certainly. As regards authenticity in performing the Idyll, you'd have to adopt a band that would fit up the stairs of a substantial villa, for that is how it was intended to be performed and was actually performed, for Cosima Wagner's birthday. I remain uneasy that this is what you were after in posing your question. Could you elaborate?