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Wagner Society in NSW Inc
The first German stop on the way - Frankfurt
Our first stopover following the delights of the London Proms was Frankfurt. We find it stress free to fly into Frankfurt, spend a night there and then drive to Bayreuth via the sometimes reliable A3. We also took the opportunity to catch up with my predecessor as Society Webmaster, Marc Greyling who is currently immersing himself in German culture. His threats of a 'heavy but good' Austrian meal at a central Frankfurt restaurant proved only correct with respect to the 'good'. Delicately smoked slivers of goose breast were followed by almost (for Germany) minute slices of belly pork with spectacular crackling for me. The other main courses were wild boar goulash and lax. What is happening to the cuisine in this area? Even the knudel were delicate!!!! Marc says a special hi to Society members. Das Rheingold - 20 August
We felt like we were returning home as we inched our clunky and odd looking Golf car though the imposing stone gate pillars of the Gasthof Spiegelmuehle. Our host Frau Scheer was delighted to see us again and, following a flurry of kisses and smiles we then laboriously dragged our suitcases to the second floor. A quick change into our dinner suits and then we headed for the Festpielhaus where we were confronted by, horror of all horrors, a car park packed to capacity. The car park custodians directed us away with an officious flick and we eventually found ourselves in a tiny lane over the hill behind the Festspielhaus. The walk to the Festpielhaus was thus a bit longer than usual. This extra distance proved to be disastrous after the show. We emerged from the auditorium to be confronted by constant rain. Of course we hadn't brought umbrellas! Surrounded by equally frustrated patrons we waited for the rain to stop. It didn't and we were hungry so we headed for the distant car. Unfortunately this year's Das Rheingold commenced with a fluff rather than the sublime. The guilty party in this respect was the unfortunate horn player, who attempting the difficult feat of playing the Rhine music extremely softly cracked his note at the critical moment in the first minute of the performance. The audience shuffled in distress. Unfortunately one of the Rhinemaidens tended the shriek her top notes and often failed to nail others. Wotan also was not convincing, in that he lacked dramatic moment. On a brighter note Maestro Thielemann reinforced his mastery of Wagner. The music (allowing for the unfortunate fluffs) carried the drama in a seamless manner. Alberich, Andrew Shore , was in splendid form, as were Arnold Bezuyen as Loge, Ralf Lukas as Donner, and, Edith Haller as Freia. Of the singers Andrew Shore received the best applause. His interpretation of Alberich was a tour de force from the moment he started slipping and sneezing in the Rhine to the end when he departed amid momentous curses. Dinner at the Gasthof Spiegelmuehle was, as usual, splendid. This is arguably the best food and best value restaurant in town. The food is interesting, light and the Scheer brothers, Bertrand and Mattais are delightful hosts. To add to the pleasure of eating here, Bertrand is studying wine management, so the wines he presents are always interesting. This night we had the Menu - Mozzarella with aubergine puree, Red mullet with puy lentils, Saddle of veal steak with Pfifferlingen and 'home made' (by Bertrand) chocolate parfait with fresh fruit. Yes this IS Bavaria!!!!! Die Walkure - 21 August
June Donsworth with Jeffrey Smart. _________________Hermes, Paul and John What a difference a night makes. Thielemann was back with a vengeance. It was if he had decided to make amends for last night's Das Rheingold. From the first chords the audience realised that it was in for a thrill. We had entered the auditorium with some concern because the cast list indicated that Endrik Wottrich was singing the part of Siegmund. Wottrich had not completed Die Walkure last year, he had not been received well at the first cycle this year and he didn't sing in the second cycle because he had a cold. Given that Siegmund is one of only three characters in the first act we had cause to be apprehensive. There is no doubt that Wottrich is a controversial figure and there is much antagonism directed against him. This night he was in strong voice but to me his delivery is constrained and not particularly attractive especially when singing against a full orchestra. Adrianne Pieczonka's Sieglinde was simply amazing and the strengths of the other characters plus the spectacular sounds that emerged under Thielmann's baton produced a memorable and thrilling night. Edward Dohman's Wotan seemed to have found dramatic intensity lacking in Rhinegold and the final scene with Brunnhilde attained exceptional dramatic intensity. We dragged a group of Society members plus a few delightful ring-ins from New Zealand back to the Gasthof Speiglemuhler for a great meal and a few glasses each of Frankconian riesling. Some of us were also persuaded to taste a Chianti Classico. I am pleased to report that this night was of a standard to cause shivers down the spine. Day 3 - a rest dayWe spent our rest day catching up on the Leitmotifs and Libretto for Siegfried. The interactive Ring disk which a number of us purchased a couple of years ago is an invaluable resource in this respect. We also went on a little excursion in the surrounding hills in the general direction of the Czech Republic. The area around Bayreuth is attractive to the eye with its low wooded hills and 'tidy town' farms basking in the (rare) warmth of the late summer sunlight. After this exhausting day we ate in at the Spiegelmuehle having being enticed by Frau Scheer's purchase of some gamy duck breasts - the allure of a rare duck breast in a Cassis sauce made it impossible to head for another restaurant. The Scheer brothers had set up 'our' table next to an open door allowing us to relax in the fading twilight. We caught up with Society Member Paul Curran fresh from his concert direction of Gotterdammerung at the Proms. Justice Jane Mathews also was enticed by the duck breast and our 'night off' turned into a spirited debate on most things musical. Our hosts at the Gasthof retreated to the safety of the bar shaking their heads in the general direction of the crazy Australians. As the evening worn on we were pleased at one point to toast Paul and wish him well in his new exciting career move - which, unfortunately for us opera lovers is not in Australia.
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