Wagner Society in NSW Inc
President’s Report for the financial year 1 April 2003 to 31 December
2003
Delivered to the Annual General Meeting to be held on 22 May
2004
Dear Members
I am pleased to present the 24th Annual Report of the Wagner Society
in New South Wales Incorporated, for the nine months from 1 April
2003 to 31 December 2003.
Functions
Looking back at the Society’s activities over that period, they included
In April, a talk on Parsifal by Antony Ernst, which produced a passionate
response from Cecilia Segura which we published in our December Newsletter.
In May, our dinner to celebrate Richard Wagner’s 190th birthday,
with Bill Gillespie OAM, acknowledged as the father of the Australian
Ring, as guest speaker
In June and July, two seminars organised in conjunction with the
re-staged production of Die Meistersinger von Nûrnberg at the
Capitol Theatre, which marked Simone Young’s farewell Wagner performances
as musical director of Opera Australia. One seminar was organised
jointly with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with speakers Antony
Ernst, art historian Arthur Lawrence, and Jungian Dr Sally Kester.
The second seminar was a talk by Professor Heath Lees, president of
the Wagner Society of New Zealand, at the State Library, which preceded
a performance of Meistersinger attended by members of both the New
Zealand and New South Wales Societies
In September, a master class by the renowned Wagnerian bass, Sir
Donald McIntyre, which we sponsored jointly with the Conservatorium
of Music. The students at the master class included Jessica Pratt
and Opera Australia’s Warwick Fyfe
In October, Dr Terence Watson’s talk entitled "Wagner and Power –
Part 2 – Gesellschaft und Gemeinschaft" (Society and Community)
In November, a function at the home of Mr Denis Condon, a passionate
conservator of mechanical and player pianos and their rolls, at which
we heard "live" performances by long-dead pianists which were more
immediate and intimate than most recordings on LP or CD and in December,
prior to our end-of-year party, a short film about two passionate
people who pursued without compromise for over 50 years their dream
of a private opera company - Sally and Anthony Amato.
We organised a theatre party for Edo de Waart’s final Wagner performance
with the Sydney Symphony, the Siegfried Idyll and a rapturous concert
performance of the third Act of Die Walküre with Elizabeth Connell
and Bruce Martin, and we pursued the strange story of the Richard
Wagner Steinway, which appeared in the foyer of the Angel Place Recital
Hall for a few days in late May, and then was gone.
Finances
The Honorary Treasurer’s Report will show that our financial position
is sound and that in addition to meeting all our normal costs we provided
almost $17,000 in sponsorships over this nine month period.
Thanks
We continue our good relations with the German Consulate, the Consul
General, and with the Goethe Institut, and we thank their officers
and staff for their continued help and support.
We are also pleased to continue to provide financial assistance to
the Bayreuth Scholar, who is nominated to the German government each
year by Opera Foundation Australia.
There are many people in the Society I wish to thank, and foremost
among them special thanks go to the members of your Committee who
work so hard on your behalf. To our two Vice Presidents, Barbara McNulty
and Julian Block, our new Honorary Secretary Mary Haswell, our Honorary
Treasurer Elle Rasink, who resigns at this AGM from this position
to pursue her own dreams overseas, to Terence Watson, who is also
the Editor of our Newsletter, to Sandy Dudgeon and to Dennis Mather.
Special thanks also to Shirley Robertson, who provides our afternoon
teas; to John Studdert, our web master; to our faithfully Ravens,
Camron Dyer and Richard Mason; and to Peter Nicholson, our Public
Officer.
Future
2003 saw the departures of Edo de Waart, chief conductor and artistic
director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Simone Young, musical
director of Opera Australia. Both championed Wagner’s work in Sydney
and beyond, and we are waiting to see whether their replacements,
Messrs Gelmetti and Hickox (who takes up his post in 2005) will share
their passion.
Finally
Lastly I would like to thank you, our members, especially those of
you who come along and support our functions and other activities,
including by coming to this AGM. Your continuing interest and encouragement
as members of the Society is the reason we are here today. Thank you
all.
Roger Cruickshank 22 May 2004
Back to Society Home Page
Back to About Us and Previous President's Reports
This Page was last updated on:
20-May-2004
© Wagner Society in NSW Inc 2004 |