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Dear Members
This year started on a very positive note with a most interesting
talk by Anthony Ernst on the first two of the completed Wagner works,
Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot. Anthony always brings
a new look to each of his talks and this was no exception. It was
informative and interesting and everyone I spoke to felt they should
investigate these neglected operas further. In preparing my pre-performance
talks for the tour to Berlin in March I checked to see if I could
find recent performances and was delighted to find that Die Feen
had been done in Sardinia in 1998 and that there had been three performances
of Das Liebesverbot in Germany in February this year.
In mid March I took 39 Wagner lovers to Berlin to hear the ten mature
Wagnerian works performed in chronological order at the Staatsoper
unter den Linden. All the operas were directed by Harry Kupfer and
conducted by Daniel Barenboim and it was a most challenging and enjoyable
fifteen days.
Berlin was still very cold when we arrived and on our tours of East
and West Berlin we had to brave snow showers each time we left the
bus. Fortunately, after a few days the sun returned and as the weather
warmed up the trees started to get their leaves and the city suddenly
softened and blossomed.
We had a talk on each opera on the morning of its performance and
then a discussion on the one we had seen the night before. The group
were all extremely interested in what we had seen and the discussion
was very lively particularly when the production was as provocative
as the Lohengrin. The only thing I will tell you is that we
had the pleasure of hearing Stuart Skelton sing Erik in Dutchman
which he did very well and then to our delight he was called in to
sing Lohengrin and we had an opportunity to meet him after the performance.
However I will leave John Casey to tell you all about our experiences
at the Birthday Lunch in May.
It was somewhat of a surprise to find that there was a huge Australian
representation in Berlin for the Festival. According to Leo Schofield
there were at least 98 of us and on our last night, after Parsifal,
Leo arranged a venue where we all met for a drink. It was very crowded
and very noisy but great fun.
Before going to Berlin I spent a week in Dresden and had the opportunity
to visit the Wagner Museum at Graupa, a small village near Pillnitz
about 14km South East of Dresden. The Museum is housed in an old farmhouse
where Wagner and Minna spent their holidays in the summer of 1846
and it is here that Wagner wrote the music for Lohengrin. The
museum is small but most interesting and the Curator, who showed us
around, was extremely knowledgeable. If ever you are in Dresden it
is well worth a visit.
Also in Dresden we were fortunate to see an interesting performance
of Tristan at the beautiful Semper Operhaus, produced by Marco
Arturo Marelli. The Tristan of Ronald Hamilton was a little disappointing
but Gabriele Schnaut was a wonderful Isolde and the rest of the cast
were good. It was conducted by Mark Albrecht who did a very good job
and who stepped in at the last minute as they had lost two other conductors
in almost as many days!
We also saw three wonderful Strauss works, Der Rosenkavalier,
Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten and am
convinced that the forthcoming Ring Cycles next year will be worth
the trip. I have seen a lot of opera in Dresden and it is always of
a very high standard and visually attractive so I am looking forward
to next March/ April.
Just before I left, Dennis Mather and I met with Dr Roland Goll,
the Director of the Goethe Institut, to talk about ways in which we
could co-operate in a program to precede the 2004 Adelaide Ring and
we will keep you informed of our plans.
I am pleased to tell you that the Committee has agreed to donate
$10,000 towards the Adelaide Ring and we will sponsor Stuart Skelton
who is to sing Siegmund and, because of this, members of the society
are eligible for priority seating at the Cycle of their choice. In
this issue of the Newsletter you will find an application form for
tickets to Adelaide. No money is required at this time but in order
to receive priority booking our application must be in Adelaide by
early July.
I shall think of you all in May when you meet for the Birthday Lunch
as I shall be in America on my way home after the Sydney Symphony
Tour but I look forward to seeing you in July at the AGM when Francis
Greep, last year's Bayreuth Scholar, will arrange a recital for us.
Barbara McNulty
June 2002
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