Newsletter Vol 12 No 3 June 2008
Editorial
A time of change, as you will read at the close of Janet Hilder's account of last month's gathering in Geneva. That report forms the main content of this Newsletter, and we are most grateful to her. The retiring president of the International Wagner Society, Josef Lienhart, has ever been a firm friend of our Society. We congratulate him on his many achievements in furthering appreciation of Wagner worldwide, and send him all best wishes for a very happy future. Among the English-speaking Societies, there are new presidents in Ireland (Professor Stephen Mennell) and New Zealand (Chris Brodrick). At Bayreuth, Wolfgang Wagner is to retire as festival director at the end of August. Who is to succeed him is still undecided.
Forthcoming Events
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)
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).
Sunday 12th October at 7.30pm: A Lecture By Professor John Deathridge
This summer brings the publication of an important new book - Wagner Beyond Good and Evil by John Deathridge, King Edward Professor of Music at King's College London, and one of the world's foremost Wagner scholars. We are delighted to welcome him to open our autumn season. His book will be the 'special offer' for members with our next Newsletter in early September.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road (by Dean Bridge)
Admission £5.00 (members); £6.00 (guests)
International Congress of Wagner Societies: May 2008 A Report by Janet Hilder
The Congress was held for the first time in Switzerland, in Geneva, this picturesque city on the banks of Lac Léman. It opened on Thursday 1st May at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, a former 19th Century factory which transported water from the Rhône, under pressure, to the fountains, homes and factories of Geneva. Historic pictures showed it had housed a massive system of hydraulic pumps and turbines like a set straight out of Chéreau's Ring! After being closed down in the 1960s it was converted into a concert hall and opera complex situated almost on the river Rhône. On arrival, participants were greeted very warmly by the president, Georges Schürch, and his committee of the Geneva Richard Wagner Society. We were given a "goodie bag" with printed motifs of Geneva and Wagner, containing our tickets, programme, Horst Stein CD, map, etc., and a chocolate Wagner medallion!
Events began with the award of the Horst Stein Prize to the conductor Michael Hofstetter, for many years conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève; then a lecture by Georges Schürch: The influence of the Swiss mountains on Richard Wagner's life and work. Illustrated with slides of Swiss scenery, this described aspects of Wagner's life with which I was not familiar. During his periods of exile in Switzerland, Wagner developed an interest for walks in the Swiss mountains, either on his own or with friends. At that time some of the places he visited - the St Gotthard, Zermatt and St Moritz - must have been relatively inaccessible. Wagner was particularly interested in the ancient cadenza of the Alpine horn "so-re-me-doh" which became the cor anglais theme welcoming Isolde's ship in Act III of Tristan. Wagner wrote in his score 'the cor anglais should here have the effect of a natural instrument, such as the Alpine horn'. At this point we were treated to a live rendering of this passage on the Alpine horn!
During a short pause we were offered a vin d'honneur donated by the Geneva City Council! Then a concert was given by the young string quartet Terpsycordes, who incidentally had studied with members of the Amadeus Quartet. They played an early Beethoven quartet, Wagner's Siegfried Idyll (arranged by Gerald Abraham) and Hindemith's Overture to the Flying Dutchman, as played by sight by a mediocre spa orchestra at 7 am in front of the drinking fountain. This piece cannot be easy to play!
The evening concluded with a Cocktail Dinner.
On the morning of Friday 2nd I chose to take part in the walking tour of the old town. This was of special interest as I had never been to Geneva before. Our starting point was the Grand Théâtre, a magnificent 19th Century building in the style of the Opéra Garnier, Paris. Incidentally the building had to be completely restored after being destroyed by severe fire during a performance of Die Walküre in 1951: Feuerzauber it certainly wasn't! We then walked up to the old town and saw the Reformation Wall with sculptures representing the key figures from the 16th Century Reformation, including John Knox, a close friend of Calvin. (Here we had the inevitable question of whether there was any connection with Fort Knox!) Myself and a fellow Scot were quick to point out here the devastating consequences John Knox's influence had on the history of music and the arts in Scotland. I quote Derek Watson's article Hans von Bülow and Scotland: 'the Glasgow of [the pianist] Lamond's youth was only just emerging from the musical famine engendered by the Calvinist reformation of three centuries before'.
In the afternoon I went on an organized boat trip on the Rhône. During this relaxing voyage we were able to observe many species of birds, including swans (not native to Geneva, but originally introduced from Britain!). This led on to the evening performance of Lohengrin. On arrival at the Grand Théâtre the audience walked up the steps on a red carpet through a guard of honour formed by the Grenadiers. At the entrance we were greeted by Monsieur and Madame Schürch. It was a dream cast, headed by Soile Isokoski as Elsa, Petra Lang as Ortrud and Christoper Ventris as Lohengrin, with fine playing from the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Leif Segerstam.
The production team of Daniel Slater, Robert Innes Hopkins, Simon Mills and Leah Hausman, well known to British audiences, was greeted at the end of the performance by a chorus of booing reminiscent of Chéreau's Bayreuth Ring during its first year of performance. The 1950s Soviet military setting, with hints of brown Fascist uniforms in the opposing army, was really not very original, but the production was not at all avant-garde in comparison with some - very often German - anarchic opera producers who seem to have no respect for the composer or the music. There were a few gimmicky effects which seemed not to contribute much to the work; for example the Prelude to Act III was choreographed with dancing by the bridesmaids in the style of Eugene Onegin which was both distracting and had the effect of trivializing Wagner's music. I bought a copy of the newspaper 'Tribune de Genève' as the headline ran "Lohengrin booed". The critic wondered why the booing had taken place and came to the conclusion that the participants from the Wagner Congress were attending the performance and, although there was nothing particularly shocking in the production, the uniforms had 'wakened up disturbing old demons'. The opera was followed by a buffet in the beautiful foyer of the Grand Théâtre.
On Saturday 3rd May I went on a boat trip on Lac Léman and to Yvoire a lovely medieval French village. We had lunch here with fish fresh from the lake, and afterwards strolled round the restored medieval castle garden, 'le Jardin des Cinq Sens'. This was a very relaxing day reinforced by weather which had suddenly turned from winter to early summer. Members of the Geneva Wagner Society travelled with the group and went out of their way to talk to everyone which was much appreciated.
In the evening we had a concert of Monteverdi's Vespri della Beata Vergine in St Peter's Cathedral given by the Elyma Ensemble under Gabriel Garrido. There was even an announcement made at the beginning pointing out the irony of this superb example of the Italian Catholic style of music being performed in a cathedral which was the powerhouse of the Calvinist movement! I must admit the austere atmosphere of the cathedral seemed to drain this work of the impact it would have, say, in St.Mark's Cathedral in Venice! After the concert a Swiss meal was arranged in a restaurant called "Edelweiß". We had cheese fondue and everybody had a good time - the atmosphere with Alpine horns and accordions was reminiscent of the obligatory Swiss night on a ski holiday. I had a very deep discussion with some Danish friends on the intellectual subject of Emmerdale, Heartbeat and Taggart!
Sunday began with a concert in the Victoria Hall - a late 19th Century concert hall, with exceptional acoustics built by the British Consul in Geneva, Daniel Barton, and dedicated to Queen Victoria. During the concert I looked up above the platform and was surprised to see a large British coat of arms in prime position. Would we do the same in Britain with a foreign coat of arms? The concert, given by the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie (not to be confused with the Savoy Orchestra!), consisted of Wagner's Faust Overture and Brahms' cantata Rinaldo for tenor and chorus. It was announced that the conductor and soloist had been replaced at the very last minute due to ill heath. The conductor Christoph Meier got about 3 weeks' notice, but the tenor Donald Cash had only a few days notice - this was a remarkable feat considering Rinaldo is a very rarely-heard work.
A farewell lunch was held at the Hotel President Wilson. Beforehand we were serenaded by some of the Chorus from Sofia who had augmented the Geneva Opera Chorus in Lohengrin. During pre-dinner speeches it was announced that, at the Delegates' Meeting during the Congress, a new President of the International Richard Wagner Society had been elected to replace Herr Joseph Lienhart: she is Professor Eva Märston, of Hanover. Derek Watson had been elected to the International Commission and we wish him well. After lunch we all said our goodbyes and I look forward to meeting them next year at the Congress in Dresden.
With our September Newsletter...
... full details of our autumn programme and special book and CD offers.
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
