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Performances/Events Archive

  • The Ring Cycle In Budapest – June 2008 In addition to the extensive list of Wagner performances compiled by our global roaming Raven, Camron Dyer, we can add this cycle in Budapest . Unfortunately, it will not be staged in the wonderful Opera House, but the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in the Palace of Arts .The Cycle will be guided by the conductor Ádám Fischer with the Hungarian Radio Orchestra and the cast of singers will include Christian Franz as Siegmund and Loge, László Polgár as Hunding, Linda Watson as Brunnhilde, James Johnson and Thomas Konieczny as Wotan, Judit Németh as Fricka and Michaele Schuster as Sieglinde. Direction and set design is by Hartmut Schorghofer and dramaturgy is by Christian Martin Fuchs. Ticket prices range from Ft200 for students with ID, and from Ft1,200 to Ft9,800 for others.According to the Palace of Arts website, the creative team “do not want to interpret but to recite the story of mythical German heroes. They invite the audience to a joint journey, providing them with the necessary musical experience, spectacle and atmosphere….It knocks on the gates of the shrine that guards the memorable Nibelung performances, experimenting with a new concept and new methods.” The dates: June 19   2008 , Das Rheingold , June 20   2008 , Die Walkure , June 21   2008 , Siegfried and  June 22   2008 , Gotterdammerung .Ticket can be booked online at www.mupa.hu . If any member attends, the Editor would be delighted to publish your thoughts and reactions to the Cycle.
  • Liane Keegan - Mezzo Soprano Upcoming performances in Berlin are as follows
    • Deutsche Oper Berlin, Mamma Lucia in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana , 1,7,11,18, 22 May
    • Deutsche Oper Berlin, Mary in Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander , 8,12,17,21,29 June

Liane Keegan has established a reputation as one of Australia's finest dramatic mezzo sopranos. She is a highly sought after artist both in Europe and Australia and excels in all facets of vocal performance.
Her operatic performances include Third Maid in the Sydney Festival's Elektra ; Erste Norn in Stuttgart Opera's Götterdämmerung ; Azucena in Il Trovatore for State Opera of South Australia; Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera for Opera Australia ; Mistress Quickly in the Minnesota Sommerfest production of Falstaff; Offred's Mother in The Handmaid's Tale and First Norn in Twilight of the Gods for English National Opera and the roles of Erda, First Norn and Waltraute ( Die Walküre ) in State Opera of South Australia 's Der Ring Des Niebelungen , recorded under the Melba Recordings label.

  • Simone Young Performance Venue UTZON ROOM, Sydney Opera House Sunday, 20 July 2008, at 5:00PM
    On 20 July Simone Young will be performing Englebert Humperdinck’s four-hands piano arrangement of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal. With narration in German and English, twelve short movements are brought to life by passages of text from the opera. See http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/priority/simoneyoung.aspx
  • The Metropolitan has arranged with a number of Australian cinemas to re-broadcast in High Definition television most of their current season.  For Wagnerians, the key dates for their Tristan und Isolde , starring “the world's pre-eminent Wagnerian singers, Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner” [remember this is the Metropolitan Opera! – Ed.] are Saturday, April 5, 2008 11.30am and Sunday, April 6, 2008 1.00pm (running time: 5 hours, 35 minutes. Two intermissions) and the place is The Chauvel in Oxford Street .  You can book through their website: http://www.themetinaustralia.info/ (click on the Buy Tickets Online heading and it will take you to a complete list of The Chauvel's screening dates – select the Tristan performance you want & it will take you through the next steps.  Alternatively, you could try and telephone the theatre, although they seem to be discouraging this as there is no telephone number given on their website apart from an InfoLine number.
  • Hamburg Ring Cycle – De Facto Australian Production
    While Australia (Adelaide in particular) continues to weigh the costs of reviving (or mounting a new) Ring Cycle, two Australian singers who featured spectacularly in the 2004 Adelaide Ring will join forces with Australian conductor, Simone Young, in Hamburg's new Ring Cycle in Hamburg. Lisa Gasteen (Brunnhilde) and Stuart Skelton (Siegmund) will join an impressive cast including Falk Struckmann (Wotan), Christian Fran z (Siegfried), Yvonne Naef (Sieglinde), Wolfgang Koch (Alberich), Peter Galliard (Mime), Katja Pieweck (Fricka) and John Tomlinson ( Hagen ) in a production directed by Claus Guth. Members may remember that Herr Guth impressed the editor with his production of Der fliegende Hollander in Bayreuth in the No. 95, March 2004 Newsletter (or online at http://www.wagner-nsw.org.au/reviews/004_review02.html ).Simone Young said in the press notice that Der Ring des Nibelungen “ist fur ein Opernhaus so etwas wie ein ‚mission statement' – ein Bekenntnis zur Kraft der Kunst in unserer Welt” (The Ring is for an opera house something of a ‘mission statement' – a confession (declaration) of the power of art in our world). “The Hamburg State Opera looks back on a proud tradition of Ring cycles, and it is for me, as Director and General Music Director, a double challenge, to bring this monument of music theatre literature to the stage with my Team”, Young also says. This seems to be an admirable principle for any opera house aspiring to world standing to adopt.The schedule is: Das Rheingold , 16 March 2008, Die Walkure , 19 October 2008, Siegfried , 18 October 2009, and Die Gotterdammerung premieres on 17 October 2010 with two complete cycles in October 2010. [Editor May 2007]
  • LA OPERA GETS $6 MILLION TO STAGE 'RING'
    In an article from The Associated Press, Solvej Schou (6 September 2006) reports that “ thanks to a $6 million donation from philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad” the LA Opera will be able to mount a production of the Ring.  Schou also reports: “Domingo confirmed that he hopes to take one of the roles in the four-opera masterpiece that has been hailed as one of the greatest theatrical works ever created. 'I hope to sing the role of Siegmund, if I am still singing then,' the 65-year-old tenor said with a smile.”  In a 3 October 2006 article, Los Angeles Opera Announces Details for Upcoming Ring Cycle, Vivien Schweitzer provides more details of the production, including the estimate of the cost: approximately $32 million.  In the article, the Music Director, James Conlon, commented: "Though Wagner has long been a staple of orchestral repertory and there have been occasional performances of Wagner operas in LA, there has never been a Wagner tradition similar to that in Europe in general and Germany specifically. I want to see LA Opera become a hub of Wagnerian activity in the coming years... Los Angeles, as one of the cultural capitals of the world, needs to have a giant Wagnerian magnet just as do New York, London, Paris and Vienna."   [It's a sentiment that I'm sure many Australian Wagnerians share that one of our capitals and one or more of our governments and corporate sponsors would take up this challenge for Australia! Editor]Schweitzer notes that, “Between 2001 and 2010, LA Opera will have presented all of the major Wagner operas, including (in addition to the Ring) Lohengrin in 2001, a revival of Der fliegende Holländer in 2003, Parsifal in 2005, and upcoming productions (all conducted by Conlon) of Tannhauser, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tristan und Isolde.”  This is a record that many Wagnerians expect that Opera Australia should emulate.
  • The Ring Cycle at the Salzburg Easter Festival (late March/early April 2007)A coproduction with the Festival d'Art lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence under the musical direction of Sir Simon Rattle with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunkchor Berlin , with direction and stage design by Stephane Braunschweig and c ostumes Thibault Vancraenenbroeck. The cast: Wotan Sir Willard White, Alberich Dale Duesing, Mime Burkhard Ulrich., Fricka Lilli Paasikivi, Siegmund Robert Gambill, Hunding Mikhail Petrenko , Sieglinde Eva-Maria Westbroek, Brunnhilde Eva Johansson, Siegfried Ben Heppner, Mime Burkhard Ulrich, Der Wanderer Evgeny Nikitin , Alberich Dale Duesing, Fafner Alfred Reiter, Erda Anna Larsson, Brunnhilde Katarina Dalayman, Gunther Gerd Grochowski, Hagen Mikhail Petrenko , Gutrune Mireille Delunsch and Waltraute Anne Sofie von Otter.
  • Wagner Nights on 2MBS-FM 102.5 Friday 26 January 2007 at 12 midnight: "Tannhäuser", the 1960 studio recording conducted by Franz Konwitschny. Not paid much attention now, the performance is excellent, with a memorable portrayal of Elisabeth by Elisabeth Grümmer. Friday 23 February 2007 at 12 midnight: "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", the justly celebrated 1970 recording by Herbert von Karajan and the Dresden Staatskapelle. Theo Adam may not be the most famous Hans Sachs on record, but he is one of the best.
  • Bangkok Walkure in July 2007 As a follow up to the article in the June 2006 (No. 104) newsletter about the performance of Das Rheingold in Bangkok , Peter Bassett, who provided a review of the production, has advised us that he is putting together a group for the Bangkok Walkure in July 2007 and thought that this might be of interest to Society members. You can find more information on Peter's website: www.peterbassett.com.au or If the idea of a four-day/three-night tour to Bangkok (25 – 28 July) for Die Walkure appeals, contact Vicki Mitchell at Renaissance Tours on 1300 727 095 or email her at vickimitchell@renaissancetours.com.au . The Editor would be pleased to receive reviews of the production from anyone who attends!
  • Tristan und Isolde in Perth in November 2006 To round off my overview of Tristan und Isolde , it is with pleasure that I can inform you that the Western Australin Opera is mounting a production of this opera in November 2006 (4, 8.11). Conductor, Richard Mills has the opportunity to build on his experiences of conducting the concert performance in Brisbane with a fully staged production in Perth . The production team includes Director , Neil Armfield, Rehearsal Director , Anatoly Frusin, Set Designer , Brian Thomson, Costume Designer , Jennie Tate, Lighting Designer , Rory Dempster, The Cast includes Isolde , Susan Bullock, Tristan , Alan Woodrow, Brangane , Bernadette Cullen, Kurwenal , David Wakeham (Kurnewal in Brisbane), King Marke , Bruce Martin, Melot , Barry Ryan. For more information check out the website: www.waopera.asn.au or you can contact the His Majesty's Theatre, at 825 Hay Street , or PO Box 7052, Cloisters Square, Perth WA 6850, or call Tel +61 8 9321 5869 or Fax +61 8 9324 1134. Tickets can be ordered through BOCS www.bocsticketing.com.au
  • Wales Millennium Centre Ring 30 November – 3 December 2006The Wales Millennium Centre will be hosting the Ring Cycle by the Mariinsky Theatre (formerly the Kirov Opera) at the end of 2006. All four operas in the Ring Cycle , presented over four consecutive nights, will be conducted by the Mariinsky's artistic and general director, Valery Gergiev, one of the world's foremost conductors.
  • Robert Lepage's Ring Cycle For The Metropolitan Opera
    According to a news release on the Metropolitan Opera's website, director Robert Lepage's first production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen will be presented in full in the 2011-12 season. The Met's music director James Levine will be the conductor. “Robert Lepage is one of today's most inventive and gifted directors,” said General Manager Elect Peter Gelb. “Harnessing new theatrical technology, Robert will create a Ring that will be a tour de force.” “According to Mr. Lepage, his new Ring will evoke the dramatic and mythic coast of Iceland, a place where the land shook and spoke back to the early Viking settlers….He said, ‘At a time when global warming and climatic change make us more conscious than ever of the fragility of this lonely planet, the Ring's Romantic power to evoke the conflicting forces between man and the divinities of nature makes more than a lot of sense. When you stage these works you are not only staging a new production, you must create a new world that explains the old one.'” You can read more about the 2006-07 program at http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/detail.aspx?id=165
  • Wagner Nights on 2MBS-FM 102.5 Friday 27 October at 12 midnight: Another issue from the "lost" stereo Ring of Bayreuth 1955. "Das Rheingold" conducted by Joseph Keilberth, with Hans Hotter, Georgine von Milinkovic, Rudolf Lustig, Gustav Neidlinger, Ludwig Weber and Josef Greindl. And the sound! It's like sitting in the stalls. Friday 24 November at 12 midnight: "Parsifal", from the 1962 Bayreuth Festival. The acclaimed recording conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch, with Jess Thomas, Gustav Neidlinger, Irene Dalis and Hans Hotter.
  • Toronto Ring Cycle If you were interested and able to do it, you could do two Ring Cycles in North America in about three weeks. The other Cycle is being done by the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto . Cycle 1 : 12, 13, 15 and 17 September. Cycle 2 : 19 , 20, 22 and 24 September. Cycle 3 : Sept. 26, 27, 29 September and 1 October. As with the Mariinsky Ring at Orange County , this Ring Cycle will celebrate the opening of a new hall for the Canadian Opera, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Ticket prices range from Ca$300 to 2,200 – and are 70% sold, according to the website; some price categories are sold out for all 3 cycles. If you are interested, check the website: http://www.ringcycle.ca/ The Creative Team includes: Richard Bradshaw, Conductor; and Michael Levine , Production Designer. Like the Stuttgart Ring Cycle, the Toronto will be using four directors to create the Cycle: Director, Das Rheingold Atom Egoyan; Director, Die Walküre François Girard; Director, Siegfried Tim Albery; Director, Gotterdammerung .The cast includes Frances Ginzer as Brunnhilde , Peteris Eglitis as Wotan /The Wanderer, Christian Franz as Siegfried , Adrianne Pieczonka as Sieglinde , Clifton Forbis as Siegmund , Judit Németh as Fricka , and Richard Paul Fink as Alberich
  • The 2006 Ring at Bayreuth The 2006 Bayreuth Ring Cycle Director is Tankred Dorst. The conductor will be Christian Thielemann. The set designer is Frank Philipp Schlößmann and the costumes will be done by Bernd Skodzig
  • The Mariinsky's Opera Company's Ring Cycle travelling to Orange County , California The Mariinsky's Theatre's Ring Cycle is travelling to Orange County under conductor Valery Gergiev for one cycle from, 6 October 2006, Das Rheingold, 7 October 2006, Die Walküre (with Placido Domingo), 9 October 2006, Siegfried and 11 October 2006, Gotterdammerung. You can see details at the website: http://www.ocpac.org/countdown/celebration_events/10-6_22.html as well as the other offerings during this celebration for the opening of the new hall in Orange County – the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (the website includes visuals of the glamorous new hall). There will also be two performances of Boris Godunov on 13–15 October. In between there will be two orchestral concerts, including Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements and Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, Op. 60 "Leningrad" and finishing up with Kirov Ballet offering Romeo and Juliet : 17–19 October and Swan Lake : 20–22 October. Prices for the Ring Cycle range from US$308 to US$6,300 and tickets are available, although not yet for the rest of the Mariinsky festival. According to the Mariinsky's website ( www.mariinsky.ru/en ): ' The history of Richard Wagner's operas in Russia is closely linked above all with the Mariinsky Theatre, where Wagner first became known to Russians not only as a composer but also as a conductor. In the 1860´s and 1870´s, the Mariinsky Opera Company introduced the public to the composer's early reformative works and, at the turn of the century, staged Wagner's grandiose tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen in full.'
  • Siegfried Idyl Australian Chamber Orchestra - the rest of the program is: Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor. Op. 129, Demenga Les Adieux [Australian Premiere], and Beethoven Symphony No.5 in C minor
    September 9, 10, 12, 13, Wollongong : September 14 and Canberra : 16 Sep
  • More of the Lost Ring The second release from the legendary "lost" recording of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", recorded live, in stereo, at the 1955 Bayreuth Festival has now been made and will be broadcast in Sydney on Friday evening, 23 June.The second in the cycle to be released is "Die Walküre", with a cast that includes Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Gré Brouwenstijn and Ramón Vinay. In
    1955 these singers, together with the conductor Joseph Keilberth, were at the height of their powers and people who heard the February broadcast of "Siegfried" will not want to miss "Die Walküre" "Die Walküre" can be heard on 2MBS-FM 102.5 on Friday 23 June at 12 midnight
  • Wagner Ring of the Nibelung (orchestral selections). The Woollahra Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing the Wagner Ring of the Nibelung (orchestral selections) on June 18th at the Mary Immaculate Church in Waverley (Sunday, 2:30 pm).
  • At the Con - May 2006 Sunday 7 May 4pm Faure arr Messager Souvenirs de Bayreuth (this concert has 6 concert grands & 12 pianists) Monday 8 May 6pm Wagner arr. Mozskowsky Isolde's Liebesto Wed 24 May ‘Song as Opera' Romantic 19 th cent German Ballads
  • Parsifal in New Zealand 2006 The New Zealand International Arts Festival in partnership with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will present two semi-staged performances of Parsifal during the 2006 Festival on Friday, 17 and Sunday, 19 March, including Sir Donald McIntyre, Gurnemanz; Simon O'Neill Parsifal; Margaret Medlyn, Kundry; Paul Whelan, Amfortas; Martin Snell, Klingsor (currently the Steersman in Bayreuth's Dutchman; Grant Dickson, Titurel. The conductor is Anthony Negus; the Director, Bernd Bentaak; Designer, and Tollis Papazaglou.
  • Performances on Radio and TV SBS-TV showed a recording of the complete Stuttgart 'Rhinegold' last Saturday, and is scheduled to show an hour and a bit of 'Valkyrie' at 1 p.m. on, 18 February.
    THE LOST RING - 2MBS-FM 102.5 on Friday 24 February at 12 midnight.
    After 50 years the legendary "lost" recording of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", recorded live, in stereo, at the 1955 Bayreuth Festival is now being issued on record. Originally shelved, due to inter recording-company rivalry and doubts about live recordings in stereo, the recording captures one of the finest performances to come from Bayreuth.
    The first in the cycle to be released is "Siegfried", with a cast that includes Gustav Neidlinger, Hans Hotter, Josef Greindl, Astrid Varnay and Wolfgang Windgassen. In 1955 these singers were at the height of their powers and the conductor, Joseph Keilberth, confirms his reputation as a first-class Wagnerian.
    Of the recording, Alan Blyth (writing in March 2006 Gramophone magazine) says "Time and again, as I listened enraptured to this overwhelming performance, I felt as though I was sitting in the Bayreuth stalls.
    "Siegfried" can be heard on 2MBS-FM 102.5 on Friday 24 February at 12 midnight.
  • Tristan & Yseult – Sydney Festival 2006 As a kind of introductory warm up to Wagner's version in Perth in November 2006, you can see another version by the Kneehigh Theatre Company B at the Seymour Centre, 11January - 19February. According to the Sydney Festival program, ' Charged with naughtiness, wit and tender observation, this energetic and anarchic production brings Cornwall 's oldest love story crashing into the 21st century. 'An evening for the loved and the unloved, Tristan & Yseult is a poignant and hilarious production by Kneehigh Theatre, Britain's most innovative and exciting independent theatre company. 'Set in a time when Cornwall was the world's richest kingdom, Tristan & Yseult tells the story of King Mark and the passionate love affair between his bride Yseult, and his trusted friend Tristan. The production is a letter to love. It explores what it means to love someone you shouldn't, to betray someone you love and to be betrayed. To be left, and most painful of all, to be unloved. 'The chorus, a mob of anorak-clad ‘love-spotters', guides us through the evening with music, dance and dark humour'
  • RACA/Conservatorium Geoffrey Parsons Foundation Benefit 29 August.
  • David Wakeham in concert 12 August For further Information
  • Opera Foundation Cirque de Mozart - 14 September For further Information
  • Tristan und Isolde 30 July 2005 QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane
  • The Philharmonia Orchestra are producing a live  concert webcast from London's Royal Festival Hall on the 23rd April, giving audiences around the world the unique opportunity to watch a live performance of  the Prelude and Liebestod  from Tristan und Isolde conducted by renowned maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen with soprano Angela DenokeComplete with live audio commentary, a listening guide and online programme notes the event is entirely free and takes place on the Philharmonia's new education website www.thesoundexchange.co.uk . Registration is very simple and the first 1000 to register will also have a chance to win a VIP trip for two to a Philharmonia concert and a night in a 5* hotel.
  • Recital - Lisa Gasteen (Details to be advised) June 2005
  • State Opera of South Australia - Wagner's Ring Cycle - Adelaide 2004 See the State Opera Ring Website 'After the seminar, I saw a trio of figures jauntily weaving through the traffic on North Terrace and Mr Michael Scott-Mitchell, Ms Neidhardt and Mr Nick Schlieper (left to right below), looking like a very relieved Freia in the company of Fafner and Fasolt. Somewhat Bunterishly, I pursued them to snap the following picture'. (See President's Report Jan 2004)

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  • A public forum delving into critical and dramaturgical aspects of The Ring A public forum delving into critical and dramaturgical aspects of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen as part of the Musicological Society of Australia’s Study Weekend 2004 “Music & CRITICISM”.
    It will be led by a panel of leading Australian and International music researchers, critics and music commentators including: Professor John Deathridge (King’s College, University of London), Peter Bassett (State Opera of South Australia), Roger Covell (Sydney Morning Herald) and Nicholas Routley (University of Sydney). Date: Saturday, 20 November Time: Further information ... (PDF) See also http://www.msa.org.au/StudyWeekend.html
  • The Ring Cycle Robert Gay Lectures: "Gods, heroes and dwarves: Wagner in Adelaide 2004." Robert Gay Lectures
    Robert Gay is giving a course of lectures for Sydney University's Centre for Continuing Education entitled "Gods, heroes and dwarves: Wagner in Adelaide 2004." There are six Thursday lectures in the course, starting on 7 October and finishing on 11 November, in the week prior to the first cycle of the Neidhardt Ring. You can book by phoning the Centre for Continuing Education on 9351 2907, quoting Course 044 4130 for the 10:30am - 12:30pm Thursday meetings, and Course 044 4140 for the 6:30pm - 8:30pm Thursday meetings. The cost of either course is $158.00.
  • Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung A Symposium The Richard Wagner Society Inc, Victoria & the University of Melbourne
    The program for the weekend of 13-14 November 2004
    includes presentations from John Deathridge, Keynote Address: "Siegfried Hero",
    Kerry Murphy and Sue Cole on "Wagner Performances in colonial Australia",
    Heath Lees on "Ring Themes and Undercurrants" [sic],
    Michael Ewans on "The Ring Orchestra and Ring Conducting",
    Oswald Georg Bauer on "Interpretations of the Ring",
    Jeffrey Smart "An Artist at the Ring" and
    Robert Gutman, "Wagner's Changing Attitude to the Holy Roman
    Empire"
    Address for registration Wagner Symposium, Faculty of
    Music, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Vic 3010
    Telephone enquiries (03) 8344 7889
  • Tristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde - Queensland premiere concert performance - Saturday 30 July 2005
    The Queensland Music Festival 2005 features the Australian Youth Orchestra and Lisa Gasteen in the Queensland premiere concert performance of Wagner's great love story, Tristan und Isolde – starting at 5:00pm in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre Concert Hall.onductor, Richard Mills, Chorus Master, James Christiansen, Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra , Tristan, John Treleaven, Isolde, Lisa Gasteen, King Marke, Bruce Martin, Melot, Barry Ryan, Kurwenal, David Wakeham, Brangäne, Bernadette CullenPRICE: A Reserve $55, B Reserve $50, B Reserve Concession $45. Refreshment Package $45: The refreshment package includes a light meal, alcoholic beverage/s and dessert. Menu details will be available in 2005. GST is applicable to the refreshment package. Further details, including biographies of the artists and online bookings, are available from the Queensland Music Festival at http://www.queenslandmusicfestival.com.au/events/tristan.html. Otherwise, you can telephone: 61 7 3010 6600 Fax: 61 7 3010 6666 or email to mail:info@queenslandmusicfestival.com.au.
  • Opera Australia Mastersingers The recording of Opera Australia's production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Donald McIntyre and conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras is at last being released in the UK on Arthaus Musik this month (January 2004). The Arthaus Musik number is 100 122.Arthaus Musik is also releasing the Tony Palmer documentary Parsifal - The Search for the Grail, which is about his Kirov production and features large chunks of the performance, with Gergiev conducting and Placido Domingo as Parsifal. The Arthaus Musik number is 100 610.
  • Sydney Symphony Orchestra Wagner Performances 2003 26 & 28 Feb & 1 & 3 March. Parsifal: Prelude and Good Friday Music. Edo de Waart Conducting Electrolux Master and Veuve Clicquot Series. 27 & 29 March. Siegfried Idyll and The Valkyrie Act 3.  Edo de Waart Conducting with Elizabeth Connell (Gala Events)
  • A WORLD FIRST FOR GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG Götterdämmerung will be sung in German with a new English surtitled adaptation by WA poet John Kinsella. "Conductor Lionel Friend leads a world-class cast that includes Susan Bullock (Brünnhilde, Alan Woodrow (Siegfried), Sir Donald McIntyre (Alberich), Philip Kang ( Hagan), Waltraute / Second Norn (Elizabeth Campbell), First Norn (Liane Keegan), with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the West Australian Opera Chorus….Perth-based Australian director Neill Gladwin will direct the outdoor spectacle, which will feature audio-visuals of the indoor concert, three specially commissioned films, fireworks, lighting and acrobatics." "The towering Perth city is Valhalla, Kings Park an ancient forest and the Swan River is re-imagined as the Rhine. From the comfort of your seat, absorb the live and momentous music of the Ring Cycle while embarking on a cinematic leitmotif journey of the goldfields of Western Australia, the ancient Karri forests and the timeless treasures of the Indian Ocean underworld.""On the banks of the Swan River (at Langley Park – adjacent to the Concert Hall)- a free outdoor simultaneous staging in film, pyrotechnics, acrobatics and street theatre to live sound and visual transmission from the Perth Concert Hall."Dates:13 Feb 2003 at Perth Concert Hall 15 Feb 2003 at Perth Concert Hall

News Archive

  • THE MYSTERIOUS WAGNER ARCHIVE IN HITLER'S BAYREUTH RESIDENCE
    In a fascinating interview by Manuela Hoelterhoff with the director of The Richard Wagner National Archive in Bayreuth, Sven Friedrich provides an interesting insight into a collection of material that is of great interest to Wagnerians.  If you have visited Bayreuth, you will have seen the building to the left of Wahnfried that is more in/famous as the sometime residence of Adolf Hitler when he was in town.  In response to Hoelterhof's query as to what the Archive contains, Friedrich replied: We have thousands of hand-written documents by Wagner and his family. The most important are Wagner's letters. He wrote, during his lifetime, around 10,000 letters, and 3,000 originals are here. Then we have his aesthetic and theoretical writings, his essays, his prose works, his libretti. And, at the very top, the original hand-written scores of his works are kept here.

    Hoelterhoff: Do you have a favorite thing in the archives? Friedrich: The scores. To turn the original handwritten pages is a special feeling. Hoelterhoff: Do they require special care? Friedrich: All these valuable documents are kept in a safe in the basement in Wahnfried, in a bank safe with a big armored door. Imagine, for example, the score of “Tristan” alone is valued at about 8 million euros ($10.2 million).”Hoelterhoff: Do stage directors tend to come and use the archives when they are preparing a production?  Friedrich: Normally not. They should, probably. I have the impression that many of the stage directors really don't want to come into the stuff deeply. They have their impression, they read the work, they have an idea. [A very perceptive assessment of the products of many Directors' Konzept approaches to Wagner – Editor.] Friedrich also provides an interesting response to a conundrum that many Wagnerians have wondered about – what happened to the original scores of Wagner's operas that were in Hitler's possession? Hoelterhoff: In 1939, German industrialists gave Hitler on his 50th birthday several valuable Wagner scores which have never been seen again. Did they burn with him? Friedrich: No. I don't even think these scores were ever in Berlin. They were not in the Fuhrerbunker. This is a legend. In my opinion, these scores were in the Berghof in Berchtesgaden. Hoelterhoff: But his villa there was also destroyed. Friedrich: It was bombed. But some things were evacuated before, to Meran. And probably the scores are in the U.S. or Italy. Not Russia. We know how the bunker looked and that the rooms were very small. Hitler had, in his private room, a small safe. The “Rienzi'” score is in four big folio volumes that wouldn't have ever fitted into this safe.

    (Manuela Hoelterhoff is executive editor of Muse, the arts division of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

    www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=apM5OhFrX7Zo&refer=home. [Editor]

  • Winifred Wagner A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth
    A new biography by Brigitte Hamann  (translated by Alan Bance) has been published by Harcourt. In his positive review of the book, A Widow's Might, Geoffrey Wheatcroft, writes that: "In Hamann's account, a vivid portrait of Winifred emerges: intelligent and handsome, determined and obstinate, and simply horrible. After the war, she went before a de-Nazification tribunal. She denied the rumors that Hitler had been her lover, but was happy to
    confess to her "admiration and friendship" for him." Wheatcroft also notes, with a touch of regret that, " As gripping as the book is, it's not pure pleasure to read 500 detailed pages without a single likable or admirable character, at least among the main players. To be sure, there was Berta Geissmar, the conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler's Jewish manager, who was forced to flee to London; or the conductor Fritz Busch, an "Aryan" who was so appalled by Hitler that he came near to suicide before he too left, to help create the Glyndebourne festival and adorn the Met; or Elisabeth von Thadden, the brave and decent headmistress of a Protestant
    girls' school, who refused to bend to the regime's will and was duly executed. "And that just about exhausts the list of Good Germans found in this book. There surely aren't many among the descendants of Richard Wagner, even those who have tried to dissociate themselves from their unhappy legacy. Alas, the legacy just keeps bubbling up." From Wheatcroft's review, it seems that the Hamann biography covers all the juicy and many nasty secrets in the Winifred Wagner household, including Wieland's marriage to the homosexual Siegfried, her Nazi affinities and deep
    commitment to Adolf Hitler, her code language for Jews, and the 75th birthday telegram Winifred received "from three of her grandchildren in effect telling her to drop dead"! The Editor would be pleased to receive any reviews of the book from members for a future Newsletter    Family Promotes Katharina Wagner as New Bayreuth Chief
    In an article from “dpa German Press Agency” of Wednesday, 30May 2007, we gain a little more information about the succession on the Green Hill in Bayreuth that has intrigued all Wagnerians over the last few years. Firstly, it is sad to learn that, according to his wife, Gudrun, Wolfgang Wagner is suffering severely from arthritis in his legs that makes walking difficult.
    All attention will soon be on Katherina Wagner and the 25 July premiere of he production of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg as an indication of the success of her claim to succeed her father as the Director of the Bayreuther Festspiele. Gudrun Wagner reminds us all that Wolfgang Wagner has: “a lifetime contract with the festival and only he could terminate it.” So any transition might not happen immediately. But, in general, as Frau Wagner is quoted as saying: “A Wagner always runs Bayreuth . Not keeping it in the family would mean unnecessarily abandoning something that exists nowhere else in the world.” In addition, Gudrun Wagner hints: “her daughter was ‘a very able artist and cultural manager who knows the ropes.'” But don't forget – there's another daughter with a claim – Nike, although her claim seems to be slight and receding. You can read the full story at http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Family_promotes_Katharina_Wagner_as_05302007.html
  • Another Production by Australia's Peripatetic Producer/Director, Paul Curran
    Just to keep a tab on the Society's Director member, you may be interested to know that, in Paul's global travels, on Thursday, 31 May 2007, he was in St Petersburg producing the Mariinsky Opera Company's production of Tosca. Paul is going from strength to strength and we hope to see him, one day, in Australia producing a Wagner opera
  • The Australian Youth Orchestra won two Helpmann Awards, 31 July 2006, Lyric Theatre Star City , Sydney . The unforgettable performance of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde conducted by Richard Mills, and  presented by the Queensland Music Festival and Australian Youth Orchestra was awarded Best Classical Concert Presentation
  • An American Ring Cycle? – The National Opera in Washington DC The re-imagining of The Ring Cycle by Somtow in the Thai Das Rheingold , as described by Peter Bassett above, and, to some extent in the Neidhardt Ring in Adelaide, is in line with the general approach to presenting Wagner operas these days, or, as a reviewer, Anthony Tommasini, put it for a review of the Cycle by the National Opera in Washington DC (New York Times, 28 March 2006): “If you put on a production of Wagner's monumental "Ring" cycle, you'd better have a novel concept. That's accepted wisdom in the opera world. We have had industrial age "Rings," an environmentally green "Ring," and several cosmic "Rings" with mystical lighting and abstract scenery.” Tommasini describes how “For months, the director Francesca Zambello's staging had been touted as a provocatively American "Ring" steeped in American mythology and iconography. There are many fresh and impressive elements to the company's colorful, abstract and well cast "Rheingold." But its success is only partly attributable to overtly American imagery.” Tommasini comments that “Zambello, working with the set designer Michael Yeargan and the costume designer Anita Yavich, portrays Wagner's Alberich [the “powerful singing of the baritone Gordon Hawkins as Alberich…nearly stole the show all evening') the dwarf who dwells among the lower race of Nibelungs, as a hulking forty-niner [gold prospector Ed.], with thick boots and suspenders, panning for gold; the Rhine Maidens are a trio of sassy gals in fleecy dresses who cavort on a mining sluice, a wonderful wood contraption with chutes and ladders." Tommasini also reports that: “The giants Fasolt and Fafner (the bass-baritones John Marcus Bindel and Jeffrey Wells), having just finished building Wotan's castle Valhalla , first appear sitting on a steel beam as it is lowered from an unseen crane. They are blue-collar laborers in matching overalls with elongated legs and huge clodhopper feet….Wotan and the gods are portrayed as entitled 1920's characters out of "The Great Gatsby," arrayed in white summer suits and dresses. Loge, the god of fire, is a wily lawyer in a tailored overcoat (the tenor Robin Leggate)….With his goatee and fedora, the sturdy bass-baritone Robert Hale makes an unusually lanky and disdainful Wotan.” However, Tommasini notes that the “Americanization concept turns political when the all-knowing earth goddess Erda (the tremulous-voiced mezzo-soprano Elena Zaremba) appears with her ominous warning for Wotan. She is costumed as a Native American princess, and looks as if she had wandered in from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.” Finally, Tommasini notes that: “The lingering image of this production comes in the deep, dank and sulfurous mine where Alberich brutally drives his slaves to hew rock and forge gold. The workers are played by a roster of some 50 mostly minority children, large and small, with tattered clothing and sooty faces. Evoking the history of slavery in America is the idea, but the image of child labor, which remains an international outrage, is what came through for me.” It sounds as if The Ring Cycle, pre-eminently among Wagner's music-dramas, in the USA or Thailand or Australia , is capable of taking on local colourings and references as it continues to cement its role as one of the great artistic looking-glasses in which any culture may inspect itself. If you would like to plan to attend future performances, including the full cycle which seems also to be slated for 2010 you can visit their website: www.dc-opera.org .[Ed.]
  • Honours Sir Charles Mackerras and The Honourable Justice Jane Mathews Our Patron, Sir Charles Mackerras, has been awarded the first Queen's Medal for Music.  In an article by Phil Miller The Herald [Glasgow] - 21 July 2005, it is reported that: “The honorary conductor of one of Scotland's national orchestras is the first recipient of a new artistic prize instigated by the Queen.  The first Queen's Medal for Music is being awarded to Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor laureate of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, for his ‘major influence on the musical life of the nation'. In addition, the Honourable Justice Jane Mathews (Member No 622) has been made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). Congratulations to Jane for her award in the 13 June 2005 Queen's Birthday honours list for service to the judiciary, to the legal profession, to the University of New South Wales, and to music – from our perspective the latter being the most important point given Jane's support for the Society and performances of Wagner's work in Australia.
  • James King Dodge City, Kansas, May 22, 1925—Naples, Florida, November 20, 2005
    Opera News carried an obituary for James King who died about a month before Nilsson in Florida (20 November 2005): “James King was born on Richard Wagner's birthday. He liked that. Although the lyrical heldentenor referred to himself as “just a plain country boy from Kansas ,” he owed many of his triumphs to the bard of Bayreuth . Still, he recognized certain limits. An artist of rare intelligence, King avoided the heavyweight dangers of Tristan, Siegfried and Tannhäuser, some flirtations notwithstanding. That may help explain why he was still singing, and singing beautifully, well into his seventies.
    “King never jeopardized the essential purity, sweetness, steadiness and strength that marked his Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger , Siegmund in Die Walkure , Lohengrin and Parsifal. The same qualities, combined with rare stamina and an easy top, made him a classic interpreter of Richard Strauss's forbidding heroes …not to mention Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio . Everyone who heard these lofty achievements found it hard to believe that he had originally trained as a baritone.
    ‘ “James King was a great tenor during an era of great tenors,” reflects Giorgio Tozzi, an associate at the Met and later on the faculty of Indiana University . “He was also a great colleague, as easy to know at the High C level onstage as he was at ground level offstage. Singing was a joy for him, and you knew it just by listening to how he sang”'.http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/issue/article.aspx?id=1526&issueID=57
    In a second obituary in OperaNews, the following comment was made: “King's last public performance came in 1996 at the televised gala in celebrating James Levine's 25th anniversary at the Met. He went on to teach at Indiana University 's School of Music , and his biography, titled "Nun sollt Ihr mich befragen," was published in 2000.”http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/news/pressrelease.aspx?id=1051
  • Charles Mackerras, in His Prime at 80
    'Charles Mackerras, in His Prime at 80, Conducts a Crackling Fidelio ' – Congratulations to Sir Charles!
    Just to acknowledge the significant achievements of our Patron, here is an extract from a review By Edward Seckerson from The Independent [ London ] - 14 October 2005 : 'Sir Charles Mackerras began his 80th birthday celebrations as if in wilful defiance of them. He strode purposefully on to the Barbican platform and, with the dynamism of a 21-year-old, kick-started the Scottish Chamber Orchestra into an account of the overture to Beethoven's Fidelio that gave urgent notice of the performance to come. Pacing was imperative, rhythms tightly sprung, inner parts sang, timpani cracked home, and period trumpets lent a brassy determination. Yet because Mackerras — one of the great musical stylists — has learnt to hurry slowly, dynamism was tempered by a lifetime's wisdom.
    'It was a great night for Sir Charles and the orchestra, then, but also for Christine Brewer, his spectacularly accomplished Leonore. Her flawless account of the great Act I aria 'Abscheulicher!' brought on shining 'visionary' legato and defiant pyrotechnics plunging to resolute chest tones. She was rightly and properly the tower of vocal strength at the heart of this performance, her singing at once consistently beautiful and heroic'. It seemed worth including also for a different opinion of Christine Brewer from the comments by the editor in the overview of Tristan und Isolde below.'
  • Congratulations to Simone Young – Goethe medal
    The latest edition of the Goethe Institut's magazine, Kultur (October 2005), contains an article about the German Government's awarding in Weimar of the Goethe medal to Simone Young, one of five recipients in 2005. Kultur reports that 'Since it was set up in 1955, 291 people from 52 countries' have received the award and only one other Australian, Professor Leslie Bodi has received the award, in 1991.
    Ms Young was awarded the medal for, among other things, 'forging a strong link between Australia and Germany , introducing Australian music, musicians and singers to Germany and – as fair exchange – programming a broader repertoire of German works in Australia …'. The article reminds its readers: 'Simone Young was the first woman ever to conduct the Wiener Philharmonic in Austria and, in Berlin , the first female conductor of the entire Ring Cycle...'.
    For her part, Ms Young says: 'The more I improved at the language, the greater become my grasp of German musical works. The structure of these great works became clearer and, therefore, it got easier for me to conduct them…. I'm surrounded by philosophers, authors and writers who put profound thoughts down on paper. That isn't my profession. My language is music. If you want to hear my deep thoughts, you will have to come to Hamburg and listen to one of my concerts.' If any of our members is able to take up Ms Young's invitation to listen to her conducting at Hamburg , we would be very pleased to print your review.
  • Simone Young conducts Vienna Philharmonic – another Laurel for the Sydney born conductor
    Australia 's Simone Young has conducted a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. The orchestra says it is the first time it has been led by a woman. In the two concerts on November 12 and 13 in the Wiener Musikverein, Ms Young conducted Leonard Bernstein's Overture to Candide, Aaron Copland's Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra and excerpts from Gustav Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Robert Schumann's Symphony Number Four.
    According to the report on the ABC website, 'There was huge applause at the Concert Hall in Vienna . Young has conducted philharmonic musicians before at the Vienna State Opera, hidden in the orchestra pit. But this is the first time she has stood at the podium during an official concert by the world-famous orchestra. Only one sour note marred the triumph of the concert. A report in an Austrian newspaper saying that Young may not in fact have been the first woman to have conducted the orchestra. The newspaper says that honour went to Carmen Studer-Weingartner in the 1930s.'
  • Wagner's Ring Cycle debuts in Beijing
    It is worthy of note that the number of Ring Cycle performances in the Asia-Pacific region is increasing. The Eighth Beijing Music Festival ran from 15 October to 5 November 2005 . Wagner's epic Ring Cycle arrived in Beijing from the Staatstheater Nürnberg with Philippe Auguin conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and is the first appearance of the Ring Cycle in Asia outside of Japan . No Wagner operas have yet been staged in Beijing .
     The Eighth Beijing Music Festival Grand opened with Dimiteri Schostakovich's [sic]: Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor , Op.99 with Sara Chang, violin, and Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie, Op.64, with the China Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edo de Waart. Singers included Gerhard Siegel and Cheryl Studer in Walküre and Alan Woodrow in Gotterdammerung .  There were also two concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle.
  • Who pays for the Bayreuther Festspiele ?
    It is always enlightening to come across any explanation about the internal workings of the Bayreuther Festspieler, especially among the rumours and gossip that hover like the sultry mists of Das Rheingold) over der Grune Hügel. The following information comes from a Suddeutsche Zeitung article entitled 'Fifty years of federal government support for the festival'. 'In light of its national and international importance the Bayreuth Festival has been eligible for federal government funding for the past fifty years. A third of the money provided for the festival comes from the budget of the federal government commissioner for culture and the media, a contribution that amounted to 1.67 million euros this year [2005]. A further third of the tab is picked up by the Bavarian state government. The remaining third is paid for by the city of Bayreuth , the district of Upper Franconia, and private donors. So, one wonders where our ticket money goes – unless we are also defined as private donors?
  • Hamburg to Build New Concert Hall and Cultural Center In an Agence France-Presse article of 13 July 2005, it was reported that Hamburg will be building a new concert hall and cultural centre at the cost of some 186 million euros and will include a hotel and (no doubt expensive) apartments. According to the article: “Hamburg Culture Minister Karin von Welck hailed the construction as a "an international cultural magnet".”  Work is to start in early 2007 for an opening in late 2009.  So, the question now is, will Simone Young preside over the opening with some spectacular gala like a new Ring Cycle.
  • Tristan and Isolde – the film You may remember a few issues ago (No. 96, May 2004), we mentioned a film being made of the Tristan and Isolde story – not the Wagner version and, apparently, not using any of his music.  However, if you wish to keep an eye out for it, there is a tentative 3 February 2006 release date being touted on the Internet: Director: Kevin Reynolds, Screenplay by: Dean Georgaris, Producers: Ridley Scott, Tony Scott (for the company Scott Free/Apollo Media), with James Franco and Sophia Myles as the eponymous characters.
  • The Enigma of Parsifal: a collection of essays edited by Brian Coghlan et al
    For copies please contact the Richard Wagner Society of South Australia 
  • Congratulations to Paul Curran On a happier note, Paul Curran, along with Jeffery Tate, has been awarded the 22nd Franco Abbiati prize for outstanding opera production ["la messinscena rigorosa e fiabesca del regista scozzese Paul Curran"] for his work on last's season's Königskinder by Engelbert Humperdinck at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. The report (for those of you who read Italian) can be found at: http://www.serrajotto.it/critici/news.htm . Congratulations to Paul and we look forward to another interesting talk from him.
  • The Bayreuth Succession: - Gangster Tactics From the August 2001 newsletter
  • End this discord, politicians urge warring Wagners From the March 2001 newsletter
  • Follow-up news item from the newsletter June 2001
  • ENO: "Promising start for 'Ring' OPERA"
  • Opera Australia News on Simone Young

Bayreuth Scholars Archive

  • Bayreuth Scholarship 2004 The Opera Foundation has advised the Society that the government of the Federal Republic of Germany has confirmed the award of the Bayreuth Scholarship to Cathy Dadd who directed the recent Opera Australia production of Der fliegende Holländer. We wish her well in her time in Germany and look forward to new and interesting Wagner productions by her in Australia.
  • Bayreuth Scholar 1999

In Memorium Archive

  • In Memoriam: Reg Maloney From the January 2002 newsletter
  • In Memoriam: Betty Maloney From the January 2002 newsletter
  • In Memoriam Rita Hunter - 29 April 2001 From the June 2001 newsletter
  • In Memoriam Giuseppe Sinopoli - 21 April 2001 From the June 2001 newsletter
  • Death of John Shaw at the age of 81. The Sydney Morning Herald of 4 March 2003 reported that "John Shaw, one of Australia's most successful and dynamic opera singers, has died at the age of 81." The Herald listed the famous singers John Shaw sang with in his career, including "Maria Callas, Victoria de los Angeles, Birgit Nilsson, Regine Crespin, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, Leonie Rysanek, Regina Resnik, Grace Bumbry, Jan Peerce, Jussi Bjorling, Jon Vickers, Carlo Bergonzi, Luigi Alva, Tito Gobbi, and Renato Capecchi". The Herald article also noted that: "When Georg Solti became musical director at Covent Garden in 1962, Shaw's Wagnerian potential was explored and he ultimately sang Telramund in Lohengrin (under Klemperer), and Gunther in Götterdämmerung and Amfortas in Parsifal." Our condolences to the family and our thanks to John Shaw for many memorable performances during his seasons in Australia.
  • Hans Hotter, singer and opera director, born January 19 1909; died December 8 2003 Penelope Turing, in the Guardian on Friday December 12, 2003 wrote an extensive obituary for Hans Hotter, including this summary: "Nobody who heard Hotter in his prime - as the Dutchman, Sachs, Wotan or Gurnemanz - is ever likely to forget the experience, nor indeed his interpretations of lieder. In all, his innate gift of making words tell brought the given music to life. In spite of his vast voice, he could fine his tone down to a velvet-like timbre in the most delicate, hushed mezza-voce, most memorably as Wotan bade a final farewell in Die Walküre to his beloved Brünnhilde, voice, emotion and style in ideal harmony". The full article is at http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1105315,00.html.On Wednesday, 10 December, Donald Arthur, a personal friend of Hotter, wrote an extensive reminiscence on the newsgroup : http://www.wagnersf.org/forum/posts/1074.html\ "Dear Friends: Last Saturday afternoon, December 6, at 5:30 P.M., my dear friend and wise mentor, Hans Hotter [died]."While always interested in music, as were many other members of his family, he initially heeded the warning of his
    grandfather Hotter, last in a long line of Bavarian blacksmiths and an amateur zither virtuoso, contending that making music at home was a noble pastime, while making music professionally was something only vagabonds do. Nevertheless, when he completed his academic studies, he was so drawn to the art, he decided to continue on to Munich's Music Academy, where he studied everything but singing, majoring in church organ".
  • Astrid Varnay, 25 April 1918 - 4 September 2006 and Anna Russell, 27 December 1911 – 18 October 2006

    Soprano Astrid Varnay died in Munich, Germany at the age of 88.  According to the Los Angeles Times, Varnay was raised in New York and started her career at the New York Metropolitan Opera. According to Wikepedia, “Opera was the family business and Varnay grew up backstage at the world's opera houses. Her father founded, and both parents ran, the Opera Comique Theater in Kristiania (later Oslo), Norway. At one time Astrid was swaddled in the lower drawer of the dressing room table of the young Kirsten Flagstad” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_Varnay). “Flagstad arranged for her to start preparing roles with Metropolitan Opera staff conductor and coach Hermann Weigert.…By the age of 22 she knew Hungarian, German, English, French and Italian and her repertoire consisted of fifteen leading dramatic soprano roles, eleven of which were Wagnerian parts.  She made her sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera on December 6, 1941 at a broadcast performance singing Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walkure, substituting for the indisposed Lotte Lehmann with almost no rehearsal. This was her first appearance in a leading role, and it was a triumph. Six days later she replaced the ailing Helen Traubel as Brunnhilde in the same opera. In 1969 she gave up her repertoire of heavy dramatic soprano roles after singing them continuously for a longer period than any other soprano, and began a new career singing mezzo roles. After being the world's leading Elektra for over twenty years, she now established herself as a great interpreter of Klytemnestra. The role of Herodias became her most often-performed role: 236 performances. She returned to the Metropolitan in 1974 and last appeared there in Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in 1979. In the mid-1980s, character roles now became Varnay's metier. Her last appearance on stage was in Munich in 1995, fifty-five years after her Metropolitan debut. Anna Russell died at age 94 in Batemans Bay!! According to her fan website, which has strangely not been updated with the news of her death, Anna Russell…moved Down Under, half way around the world from her former long-time home in Canada. She [was] living with her [adopted daughter, Deirdre Prussak], and [was] reportedly very happy in the new surroundings. http://annarussellshrine.tripod.com/.  It would be of regret for many NSW Wagnerians that we did not know that she lived in Batemans Bay, otherwise we would have invited her to talk to the Society. According to Wikepedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Russell), Russell's early career included a few engagements in opera (including a disastrous appearance as a subsitute Santuzza in a British touring production of Cavalleria Rusticana, where she clumsily tripped on a set piece and pulled it down - an event later used in her comedy) as well as appearances as a folk singer on BBC radio in 1931."I never intended to do comedy at all," she once said.  "Every time I did something (while singing at the BBC), even though I was being very serious, everyone would laugh and scream. I used to get offended." "Finally, I thought that if people were going to laugh anyway, I might as well go along with the gang. So I did." The Canadian Encyclopedia quotes her in 1977, from the Toronto Star, as describing herself as "the Rip Van Winkle of Toronto - a bit decrepit but not yet passed away. I still have one of the great voices of the decayed - a roar rather than screech, in a comfy basso nonprofundo." Wagnerians are most likely to remember her famous line on the complexities of the plot of Wagner's Ring in her glorious send up of the tetralogy: "I'm not making this up, you know!" [Editor]

 

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