Newsletter Vol 8 No 4 September 2004

Editorial

Wagner certainly stays in the headlines. BBC Radio 3 invited votes for the Record of the [20th] Century on 26 June and the Solti Ring topped the poll by quite a margin. The next day, the Glastonbury Festival was treated to Act III of The Valkyrie from ENO. Opinions will differ as to the style of that performance and production, but live television coverage of opera is rare and to be welcomed. Opinions certainly differed on the subject of the new Bayreuth Parsifal. Christoph Schlingensief's production caused an uproar that was gleefully misrepresented throughout the German tabloids. This in turn led to the festival management posting notices throughout the Festspielhaus (signed by most of the season's singers) asking audiences to behave in a way that showed consideration to the artists. Whatever the merits or demerits of the Schlingensief approach, the noticeable increase of younger people attending these performances (as with Calixto Bieito) is a healthy sign. There are, after all, plenty of dull productions of Parsifal to be seen. And would Bayreuth really be Bayreuth without a healthy slice of scandal?

Forthcoming Events

SUNDAY 26th SEPTEMBER at 7.30pm: 'MATHILDE WESENDONCK: THE CONTROLLING MUSE', a lecture by Professor Chris Walton of the University of Pretoria

Chris Walton, a leading authority on Wagner's Zurich years, makes a welcome return to the Society after 2 years. Mathilde Wesendonck is generally portrayed in Wagner literature as the composer's passive muse. But in fact her role in Wagner's life and work was almost certainly far more active than hitherto imagined. Most sources pertaining to Mathilde in the 1850s have been destroyed or lost. For this reason, her literary works (hitherto dismissed by all Wagner scholars) and her correspondence with other composers after Wagner - Theodor Kirchner and Johannes Brahms in particular - will in this lecture (which is based on as-yet unpublished papers) be read 'backwards' in order to try to establish the real nature of her relationship with Richard Wagner. New information will be given on other figures in her circle to prove that Mathilde was a woman who tried - and almost always succeeded - in having her cake and eating it.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road (by Dean Bridge). Admission: members £5; guests £6

SUNDAY 24th OCTOBER at 7.30pm: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND BAYREUTH REPORT

Notice is given of the eighth Annual General Meeting of the Society. Any member wishing to serve on the Committee should advise the secretary as soon as possible. After the official business, all those who attended Bayreuth in 2004 will be invited to share their impressions with members.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, address as above. Admission free to members (donations will be invited to cover room costs).

SUNDAY 31st OCTOBER at 7.30pm: THE RING AT MANAUS: an evening with Aidan Lang

The director of the production of the Ring in the extraordinary 1896 opera house in the Brazilian city of Manaus will tell us about the event, which comes to completion next year. Aidan Lang is well-known to Scottish Opera goers: he directs this season's revival of Tosca.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, address as above. Admission: members £5, guests £6.

MONDAY 22nd NOVEMBER at 7.30pm: RECITAL by PHILLIDA BANNISTER (mezzo-soprano) with DEREK WATSON (piano)

Works by Schubert, Richard Strauss, Wagner, etc. Phillida Bannister has appeared many times at Edinburgh concerts and fringe festival events. She sang Erda and other roles alongside Sir Donald McIntyre at this year's Longborough Ring cycles. She will include songs composed specially for her by Derek Watson.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians, address as above. Tickets £10. Please apply by downloading this form, which should be sent to the Treasurer. Please note this is a Monday event.

SATURDAY 4th DECEMBER, 7pm FOR 7.30: CHRISTMAS PARTY

Our annual fund-raising Christmas Party (proceeds go to our Scholarship Fund) is a most popular event, and the abundance of good food and wine from our excellent caterers of the last 3 years, our annual quiz, raffle and generous prizes, should ensure that this year is no exception. This year, we are delighted to welcome as our special guest Sandy Matheson of the well-known Edinburgh firm MCALISTER MATHESON MUSIC, who will give us an illustrated talk on the best recent Wagner recordings and will preview some treats to come. There will also be a substantial second-hand stall of Wagner recordings, books, scores and videos.
St Columba's-by-the-Castle, Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh. Tickets £20. Please apply by downloading this form, which should be sent to the Treasurer.

John Wallace will give his lecture to the Society early in 2005 and our next Newsletter will contain details of other events for next year.

The Ring in Manaus: all members should have received a leaflet offering a tour devised by Prospect Music and Arts Tours Ltd, including visits to the Iguassu Falls and Rio de Janiero and attending the Ring cycle on 14-19 May. Members are entitled to a 5% discount on the cost. If you have not received this information, please contact the Scottish Opera Friends Manager Mrs Anne Higgins on 0141-248 4567, email: anne.higgins@scottishopera.org.uk There is another cycle on 7, 8, 10 and 12 May.

International Richard Wagner Congress 2005. Please note that next year's Congress is hosted by Leipzig and the dates are 4-8 May. The attractive programme contains talks on Wagner's native city and other great Leipzig musicians, excursions to Lauchstädt, Merseburg, Halle, several recitals and concerts and festive dinners. Operas on offer are Les Troyens, La Clemenza di Tito, Handel's Hercules, and Tannhäuser. Anyone wishing a brochure and application form for the Congress should apply to Will Scott (address below).

International Richard Wagner Congress 2004, Augsburg

As we lacked a report from any Scottish member, we were delighted to receive this from the Chair of the Wagner Society of Ireland, Christopher McQuaid.

Bright skies in München gave way to cold and rain in Augsburg on the opening day of the 14th RWVI Congress, held in the Dorint Hotel. In excess of 160 delegates gathered with undampened enthusiasm for the fare to follow - a programme commencing at 9.00am, concluding at midnight.

The meeting of Chairpersons was opened by the esteemed President, Josef Lienhart, now head of 138 Societies world-wide, with in excess of 38,000 members. Chairs of the new Societies - Delhi, Halle, Perth and Zagreb - were introduced and welcomed, as were new Chairs of existing Societies. Agenda matters discussed were: the Singing Competition for Wagner Voices in Bayreuth 2003, and the competition planned for Venice in 2006. Delegates were briefed on the competition for stage design to be held in Graz, Austria, in 2005. Reports on activities of RWVI were presented by Herr Lienhart and the Treasurer. Payment of the Annual Subscription using IBAN was explained, in French, English and German, using overhead projection. There were lots of speeches from the top table, and floor, in a very good-natured and friendly atmosphere. Help as ever was readily available for delegates with little German.

A very pleasant lunch followed the meeting, after which VIP buses were laid on to take delegates to places like Füssen, Hohenschwangau Castle, Linderhof Castle and Kirchheim. For those who took the excursion to Kirchheim, the highlight of the day was a concert by Stefan Mikisch held in the beautiful surroundings of the Fugger Castle. Stefan played his own adaptations and arrangements from Tristan und Isolde on the grand piano, which would have impressed both Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner.

On Saturday morning, 22 May 2004, the delegates re-assembled in the Goldnersaal of the City Hall for a speech of welcome from the Mayor, Dr Paul Wengert. At 2.00pm, a seminar was held on "Richard Wagner, his Life and his Work". A question posed was: did Richard Wagner write primarily for men? The consensus was that he wrote for women and men! Later in the evening, a festival performance of the Dresden version of Tannhäuser was given at the Augsburg Theatre. I can well imagine that the Great Master, Richard Wagner, would take issue with this description, given what was to happen after the Prelude! Poor Venus was strangled by a manic Tannhäuser in Act I then removed like a sack of potatoes by the ensemble, not to appear again in Act III in any shape, ie flesh, spirit or voice. I missed her screams, as a cue to the chorale finale. This aside, the production was musically and vocally fine. Tannhäuser's treatment by the virtuous in Act II was cruel: he was led by a rope around his neck, then branded with a red-hot iron before being sent out into a snow storm - very modern!! The virtuous then toasted their night's work as the curtain was pulled across the stage by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Act III, like the preceding Acts, was out of the modern film version of Romeo and Juliet. Some distinguished Wagnerians were in the audience, including Frau Verena Lafferenz-Wagner.

On Sunday morning, we re-visited Augsburg Theatre for speeches from the Mayor of Bayreuth and the Mayor of Augsburg. The Philharmoniker Chor, Augsburg, sang the chorale from Meistersinger and pieces by Brahms and Schumann. Josef Lienhart presented Gold RWV insignias to the organisers of the 14th RWVI Congress, Dr Martha Schad and Frau Hilde Lutz. The morning concluded with pieces from Beethoven and Richard Strauss. The afternoon commenced with a Festival Dinner in the Congress Hall foyer. Over 800 persons were in attendance, ie delegates and guests. I was seated at a table with representatives from Florida, Edinburgh, New York, Copenhagen and Venezuela. During the meal 'historic women of Augsburg' displayed traditional costumes worn over the centuries.

The Congress concluded with a Festival Concert with the Swabian Youth Symphony Orchestra. The programme included Richard Wagner's Overture in D minor, Liszt's First Piano Concerto and Bruckner's Symphony No. 3, dedicated to Wagner. As in Copenhagen, 'Auf Wiedersehens' were exchanged, as we prepared to return home from a very well organised and successful Congress.

News in Brief

  • On 5th May, our honorary member Sir Richard Armstrong received a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for his work on the Ring cycle.
  • On 10th July, Margaret Angove hosted a splendid garden party for members at her North Berwick home. It was happily one of the few dry days of that summer! And the event raised a very welcome £422.82 for our Scholarship Fund. Congratulations and thanks to Margaret, her partner Richard and son Ben for all the hard work!
  • On 14th June your chairman and secretary were honoured to represent the Society at a Civic Reception in Glasgow's City Chambers to mark the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Scotland.
  • News from Bayreuth includes the announcement that Katharina Wagner (daughter of Wolfgang and Gudrun) will direct the 2007 Die Meistersinger. Lars von Trier has withdrawn from the 2006 Ring as he now feels the project 'would exceed his powers'.
  • Graham Sanders (Scottish Opera's Siegfried) will sing his first Tristan in Halle on 11th December in a production that also sees the debut as director of René Kollo.
  • Member Philip Taylor, who leads the Edinburgh Players Opera Group, invites you to a play-through of Götterdämmerung at Portobello Town Hall, Edinburgh from 10.30 on Sunday 3rd October. The group, together with a cast of outstanding singers, conducted by Mike Thorne will thus have achieved in performance the entire Ring cycle. Details from Philip on 01368 850235.
  • The Society produced a Journal in August of last year. Members joining since then may not have received a copy to which they are entitled. Please let Derek Watson know if you'd like one. Existing members can obtain extra copies @ £10.

Study Weekend 2005: Die Meistersinger

We are pleased to announce the dates and venue for our 2005 Residential Study Days, which will examine Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Friday 24th to Tuesday 28th June at the wonderful setting of the Cathedral of the Isles at Millport, Isle of Cumbrae. A brochure is in preparation for future distribution, but please note the dates in your new diary!

Wagner Society of Scotland Bayreuth Scholarship 2005

We are happy to announce that we will be able to offer a Scholarship for a young artist to visit Bayreuth next summer. The winner will attend Lohengrin on 9th August, Parsifal on 11th August and Tristan on 12th August. We are also again able to subsidise a scholar from an eastern European country. Details of applications for the Scholarship will be in the next Newsletter and posted on the website.

Richard Wagner: Werke, Schriften und Briefe

Richard Wagner: Werke, Schriften und BriefeDigitale Bibliothek have released this CD-ROM which contains all of Wagner's writings and letters, Cosima's diaries, Mein Leben and Glasenapp's biography.

The edition (in German, of course) is an excellent research tool. Published at €49.90, it is available to members of our Society for a special rate of €38. Contact Derek Watson for further information.

In Our Next Newsletter

... more details of 2005 events, and news of important new productions worldwide

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

Top