Newsletter Vol 12 No 2 April 2008
Editorial
By the time you read this the Bayreuth artistic succession may have been decided. The world's press has buzzed with the news that Dr Wolfgang Wagner (88) wrote early this month to the Festival's Board approving joint leadership by the daughters of his two marriages, Eva (63) and Katharina (29). This would still leave his niece Nike Wagner (62) out in the cold. The Board meet at Bayreuth's Town Hall on 29 April. The result of the continuing family saga will doubtless feature in our next Editorial, and will be hotly discussed at the imminent International Congress of Wagner Societies in Geneva. A report on that Congress will be the main feature of our next issue.
How I wish I could write about any imminent Wagner performances here in Scotland, or any prospect of them. But with our various Society events planned for 2008-09, our Journal being mailed to Societies in all corners of the globe, and the celebration of our Silver Jubilee at the end of next year (neatly coinciding with the professional return to Scotland of our Patron Donald Runnicles), we still have cause to blow our own trumpet.
Your Journal
With this mailing fully paid-up members receive The Wagner Society of Scotland Journal Volume III (2007). We are pleased that all the articles in it contain material never before published in English. Additional copies of this latest Journal (postage included) may be had by request (whilst copies remain) @ £15.00 per copy. For the same price we can still supply numbers of the few remaining copies ofVolumesI and II. The contents of our earlier Journals are summarised online here.
To obtain extra copies of any Journal, send your order to our treasurer John Holcombe (address on back page) with a cheque for £15 per volume (which includes postage), made payable to The Wagner Society of Scotland. Contact John also if you receive this Newsletter without a Journal, but feel you are entitled to one.
Forthcoming Events
Sunday 18th May at 7.30pm: An Evening with Christopher Underwood and Students from the RSAMD Alexander Gibson Opera School
As those who follow these events will know, we have been looking forward to an evening such as this for quite some time! January colds prevented participants performing at our last attempt (when Helen Lawson, an RSAMD professor, nobly filled the breach with a lecture recital), so we hope that the merry month of May will bring Christopher Underwood, Head of Vocal Studies, a group of singers with a pianist, and the opportunity for us to learn more of their work being done in Glasgow. We also hope that our Society's Bayreuth Scholar for 2008, Fiona Scott, will be able to participate.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road (by Dean Bridge)
Admission £5.00 (members); £6.00 (guests)
Sunday 22nd June at 7.30pm: An Evening of Wagner Rarities on Film
Midsummer: so at least one scene from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg must be on the bill (health warning: not Katharina's!) and we will show, in anticipation of our summer study days, part of an act of Tristan und Isolde. Plus more, at this fund-raising event, at which all items screened are not commercially available.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road (by Dean Bridge)
Admission £5.00 (members); £6.00 (guests)
July 11th - 15th : A Residential Study Weekend at Stirling University on Tristan Und Isolde
Please note that this is your very last chance to book a residential place on this course!!! We have had an extremely good response, with over 40 delegates booked including a number from overseas, but we can accommodate a few more people. You can download the programme and a booking form from our website, or just contact directly our booking organiser, John Holcombe (details below).
Sunday 21st September At 7.30pm: Annual General Meeting And Bayreuth Report
Notice is given of the Twelfth Annual General Meeting of the Society. Any member wishing to serve on the committee should advise the secretary in advance, with the names of a proposer and seconder. After the official business and refreshments, all those who attended Bayreuth this year will be invited to share their impressions with members. If you can't attend in person a brief written report would be welcome.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. Admission free to members only (a donation will be invited to cover room costs).
Special CD Offer
The Complete Orchestral Works of Siegfried Wagner
A seven-disc boxed set:
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Conducted by Werner Andreas Albert. CPO 999 655-2
This is a marvellous and excellently performed set, collecting together 7 CDs that have been individually much praised. For those who are curious to discover what the music of Richard Wagner's multi-talented son was like, and to discover the many beauties of his output, there could be no more perfect introduction. The set contains the overtures to all his operas (4 CDs) which in themselves give a splendid idea of his main oeuvre. The other volumes contain his Symphony in C, his Symphonic Poems, Concertos and other works.
Normal retail price around £44.00 or more.
Our price to members: £39.00 (less than £5.60 per disc!) [postage extra = £2.00]
If you would like to reserve a copy, please order through Derek Watson (address below) enclosing a cheque made payable to Linton Books for £39.00, and your CDs can be collected at our May or June meeting. If you wish them to be posted please send a cheque for £41.00.
News in Brief
- In Dresden the famous Gläserne Manufaktur ('Transparent Factory') of Volkswagen is promoting 2 remarkable days with hospitality and luxury accommodation at special rates. The main musical items are a performance by the Bayreuth Festival company of Act I of Parsifal in the wonderfully restored Frauenkirche, and an event with distinguished Dresden-born bass René Pape. The complete package takes place from 5-7 September and Derek Watson can supply details for those interested.
- We are most grateful to our colleagues María Infiesta and Jordi Mota of the Wagner Society of Barcelona for sending their book Richard Wagner et la littérature espagnole: a work, in French, focussing on the composer's indebtedness and avid reading of Spanish literature, especially Calderón and Cervantes.
- Several members have already enjoyed trips with AceStudyTours who offer a 6-night trip to Weimar for the Ring cycle there. The tour is 28 October to 3 November (and the operas are on 29 & 30 Oct., and 1 & 2 Nov.): details from www.acestudytours.co.uk
- The start of another Ring cycle comes at Portobello Town Hall on Sunday 28 September when the Edinburgh Players Opera Group embark upon a second performance of the tetralogy with Das Rheingold: Derek Watson will launch the proceedings with an introductory talk at 5.30pm. All are welcome to attend this performance, but please contact our member Philip Taylor for admission details on 01368 850235
- Hearty congratulations to the founders of the New Zealand Wagner Society! Professor Heath Lees, our fellow Scot, with his wife Liz, are retiring after 15 marvellous years as president and secretary of an organisation that now has 450 members in four centres (the latest Dunedin). We look forward to welcoming them back to visit us sometime.
With our June Newsletter...
... a preview of our autumn programme and a report on the International Congress of Wagner Societies in Geneva this May.
Chairman and Newsletter editor: Derek Watson, Deanfoot House, West Linton, Peeblesshire EH46 7EA Tel 01968 660339 Fax 01968 661701; e-mail derek@lintonbooks.plus.com
Secretary: W S Scott, 83 East Claremont Street, Edinburgh EH7 4HU; Tel 0131-556 2617; Fax 0870 0568159; e-mail will@elgar1.plus.com
Treasurer: John Holcombe, 4 Galleon Court, Lamer Street, Dunbar, East Lothian, EH42 1GX; e-mail john@holc.wanadoo.co.uk
