Function Review: From the February 2001 newsletter
September 17 - Have your say! Panel discussion
Discussion of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's Götterdämmerung,
with special guests, Bill Gillespie, Head of the Academy of Performing
Arts, Edith Cowan University, WA and Peter Nicholson, writer and poet.
(Held on 17 September 2000.)
To follow up the SSO's conclusion to its acclaimed concert performance
of the Ring cycle, the Wagner Society conducted a Seminar on the performance
and on the implications of the views of Göttfried Wagner, great
grandson of Richard Wagner, after his visit to Australia. To broaden
the discussion to the significance of Wagner today, extracts from
videos were shown: two films by Petrus Van der Let - Hitler's Religion
and The Wagner Dynasty - and Wagner, from the "Great Composers"
series.
The following are some of the comments on the Götterdämmerung
performance:
It was a worthy conclusion to the cycle which had generally been
of a very high standard, especially Elizabeth Connell (the "pre-eminent
soprano of this period" in Mr Gillespie's view) and the hand
picked, intensively rehearsed chorus.
The cost, promotion and timing of and ticketing for the event by the
SSO, but especially by the Olympic Games Arts Festival organisers,
were totally inadequate.
Mr Nicholson noted that the event had been trivialised in some media,
as shown by the website CitySearch's listing, adding that the website's
ironic view of the concert indicated the mode Australians adopted
when faced with serious cultural issues.
It was also noted that the Wagner family itself had to take much of
the responsibility for the adverse attitudes many people had to Wagner
and his music dramas.
The audience enthusiastically agreed the President should write to
the SSO and congratulate them on the quality of the performance and
that the Committee should discuss raising with the Premier all aspects
of the ticketing process.
Mr Gillespie noted that the success of the South Australian Opera
Company's performance depended largely on a fortuitous opportunity
provided by South Australia's loss of the Grand Prix to Victoria and
the expeditious submission to the South Australian Government of a
strategy for a replacement attraction which depended on tourism, the
concurrent proposals from the Victorian State Opera Company to undertake
the Ring at some time in the future, as well as the long-standing
rivalry between Adelaide and Melbourne.
People generally agreed with Mr Gillespie's point that there was
a crucial need for more Australian performances of Wagner's works,
whether staged or in concert versions, to build audiences, particularly
among younger people, and, more pragmatically, so that people did
not have to spend large amounts travelling overseas to performances.
It was premature to say whether any Australian city might take on
permanent role as the host for Ring cycles, but there was scope for
the opera companies and/or symphony orchestras to work both independently
and collaboratively to stage or perform in concert the main music
dramas.
As background for those who had not attended Göttfried Wagner's
talk or were not aware of his views from other sources, the excerpts
from the Van der Let films focussed on Herr Wagner's views on the
Wagner family's and Germany's failure to confront and resolve its
antisemitic history. The audience generally considered Herr Wagner's
views to be very one-sided and not to contribute greatly to a better
understanding of that complex artist, Wagner. Both Mr Gillespie and
Mr Nicholson agreed that the films showed how an artist can be used
for different political and social purposes, regardless of the artist's
views.
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10-Mar-2004
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