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Home , Alan Schneider, Bayreuth Festival, Birgit Nilsson, Hans Knappertsbusch, Hartmut Haenchen, Jay Hunter Morris

Wagneriana Spring 2013 Volume 10, Number 1

Das sagt sich nicht; doch bist du selbst zu ihm erkoren, bleibt dir die Kunde unverloren.

—— From the President

In This Issue We are thoroughly immersed in bicentennial events! The entire Wagnerian world is busy celebrating the anniversary of ’s birth 200 years ago ■■ François Girard Brings Fresh with special lectures, concerts, and staged performances. There are so many Ideas to the Met’s happenings all over the world that we cannot possibly keep up with all of them. Parsifal 2 Our website has a list of events in the United States and Canada, courtesy of the Wagner Society of New York. We have received many brochures from various ■■ Metropolitan Panel on Parsifal 5 venues in Europe, as well as from the Wagner Society of Washington, DC. If anyone is interested in these, please contact us. If you are in New York for the ■■ An Allegorical Ring Cycle, please check out the numerous interesting events that the New York Portrait of Richard society is offering (www.wagnersocietyny.org). Wagner with His Here in Boston, we have scheduled four very exciting events this spring. Muse 7 On April 13, at 2 p.m., at the Brookline Public Library, the journalist Jeannie ■■ Die Walküre Williams will present a wonderful documentary and exhibit titled : (simulcast) 12 A Man and His Music. Vickers’s recital jacket and correspondence with Wieland ■■ The Boston Lyric Wagner will be on display. This event is free. Ms. Williams, a board member Opera’s Senta of the Wagner Society of New York, is the author of Jon Vickers: A Hero’s Life and Dutchman (foreword by ). A very few copies of her book will be available, as Speak 13 well as Barry Millington’s The Sorcerer of . ■■ Upcoming On May 6 the much-awaited Q&A with Heldentenor Jay Hunter Morris will Events 15 take place at the College Club, at 6 p.m. Radio personality and WGBH Host Ron Della Chiesa will moderate the Q&A, which will be followed by a reception. For tickets, go to www.jayhuntermorris.eventbrite.com or call us at 617-323- 6088. Please note that the sale of tickets will end on May 2, and there will be no ticket sales at the door. May 11 brings us a wonderful sampling of the Ring Cycle organized by the Boston Wagner Society. Each opera will be represented in this special concert

continued on p. 16 Review German opera: ’s Pelléas et Mélisande. If we stay in German territory, the first true successor to François Girard Brings Fresh Parsifal is ’s . In essence, Wagner’s Ideas to the Met’s Parsifal final masterpiece is a work that only true cognoscenti appreciate, and usually wildly. For many others, however, Parsifal; , February–March this opera poses grave problems due to its length, sub- 2013; , conductor; François Girard, ject matter, and compositional style. The first act alone, director; , Parsifal; René Pape, like the Prologue and Act 1 of Götterdämmerung and Gurnemanz; Katarina Dalayman, Kundry; Peter the final act of Meistersinger, encompasses shorter works Mattei, Amfortas; Evgeny Nikitin, Klingsor such as La bohème, , , Salome, and and The well-oiled Metropolitan Opera publicity machine almost dwarfs much of the standard repertoire (2.5 hours raised extremely high expectations since its announce- seems to be the average length of other ). Parsifal’s ment of the current season almost a year ago. Parsifal religious theme also poses problems, more for those who had not enjoyed a new production at the Met since the do not “believe” or agree. The almost total lack of clearly Schenk/Schneider-Siemssen staging was revealed in definable, hummable, and whistleable big tunes and great 1991. The previous Nathaniel Merrill/Robert O’Hearn moments alienates the average listener. (With very few production came from 1974. As with most Met produc- tions, longevity and usefulness are pretty much built in. (Sadly, the Met has not done terribly well with Il trovatore and Lucia di Lammermoor, among others, but I suspect that nobody reading this review cares terri- bly much.) The promised cast was, on paper, virtually impossible to improve on. The staging Konzept was not too specific (was there an ulterior motive?), and only those who had seen this production’s previous incar- nation in Lyon really knew what it would be like. In comparison with the pre-Lepage Ring staging, there was far less gnashing of teeth when the Schenk production’s departure was announced. Yet another fairly literal and old-fashioned show has been consigned to history and has been quite successfully replaced by a wonderful Jonas Kaufmann as Parsifal with the Flower Maidens in and amazing new production, which, to this reviewer’s Act 2 eyes, ears, and great delight, promises to be the stan- Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera dard of reference, and for many reasons. One can only hope that the seven performances this season were not a flash in the pan and that there will be a revival with this exceptions, that statement can apply to most operatic extraordinary cast. Having heard the first three perfor- compositions since the death of Puccini, but that is a mances on SiriusXM satellite radio and seen the fourth fertile topic for discussion for another time and place.) performance in-house, as well as the HD broadcast and Still, Parsifal endures and will continue to work its magic the HD encore, I can definitively say that this was one on listeners new and old. of those rare events where one simply gives thanks for The reason I mention these obstacles to the enjoyment being alive. of the work is that François Girard, the stage director, For Wagnerians, as well as composers and conductors, has so successfully solved virtually all of them. Of course, this score represents the sum and summit of this com- no stage director can solve the problem of the length of poser’s art. One can never have too much of this magical the work. It is what it is. By now, most audiences know music, which has beguiled receptive audiences for 130 what to expect and know that a proper appreciation of years. Parsifal, more than any other Wagner opera, has Wagner’s swan song is aided by careful preparation on spawned numerous artistic and compositional responses. the day of the performance. It does no good to arrive at The one that comes immediately to mind is not even a the opera house (or HD broadcast) immediately after a

– 2 – meal of any size, five or ten minutes before the curtain. to others. There is no circular Communion table, and Neither should one fast the whole day. One should also hardly anything liturgical. Simple stylized gestures not run around (or elsewhere) becom- accompany the Communion ritual. Parsifal does not ing fatigued. One must do everything possible to stay stand idly by for half an hour and observe (like the audi- awake and alert so as to absorb every note of the music ence); instead he wanders among the assembled knights and every second of this stage production. Every note and, standing two feet away from Amfortas at one point, and every image is so perfect and so stunningly well is clearly impressed by the horrific pain the Grail ruler thought out, played, acted, and sung that nothing should suffers. Never before have I seen and heard an Amfortas be missed. One can only hope that the Met, in its great in such pain and vocal agony. wisdom, will recognize the commercial prospects built At the end of this first Grail ceremony all exit slowly, into the HD telecast and release it as a DVD and/or make the L-shaped stream widens significantly and turns red. it available on demand. Girard departs from Wagner’s stage The principal characteristic of directions and has Gurnemanz exit Girard’s novel concept is that the . . . Girard brings in disgust and leave Parsifal to hear opera is not about simply watch- the alto solo intone the prophecy, ing some strange ritual. Rather, it is refreshing new ideas “Durch Mitleid wißend.” about the audience and its hopes for to this familiar The domain of Klingsor is also a renewal. Taking his cue from Stefan simple set. Two dark walls face the Herheim’s Bayreuth production, Wagnerian take on the audience, and again there is a clear Girard opens each act with a large, separation at the back—symbolic reflective mirror-scrim in which one Arthurian legends and practical in that it allows for sees the orchestra pit, the conductor, entrances and exits. The Flower and the house itself. During the pre- Maidens remain onstage during lude, the chorus at first is all scram- the entire act and are carefully bled and in street clothes. Slowly they doff street clothes and beautifully choreographed. The stage floor is now a and reveal a new ritual outfit: gray slacks and white shirts pool of dark red stage blood (about 600 gallons of water, for men, dark cloaks for women. Men and women sepa- food-grade glycerin, and red food dye are pumped in rate into two groups, the women moving upstage right and heated during the intermission, recycled at the end and the men forming two circles, a larger one surround- of the act for the next performance). Just whose blood ing a smaller one, with a fairly large acting space inside this is remains a mystery. I have read and heard various the circle. Dividing the sexes is a small L-shaped stream explanations from participants. Girard gives no clue. that runs the entire depth of the barren and decrepit Parsifal’s grasping of the spear at the end of Act 2 could stage. In the house one can see that it is filled with water, not be more obvious and beautifully handled—no stage and this image is even more obvious in the HD version. tricks here, no trap doors, no duplicate spears, no flashes The stream eventually turns red with the blood of the of light as in the Merrill/O’Hearn production. The focal grievously wounded Amfortas. The basic theme is that point of the attempted seduction is a large white bed of a society sadly splintered and fragmented, lost to itself borne by the Flower Maidens. Could anything be more and to all others, and in great need of repair. straightforward and unsubtle? Interestingly, and somewhat unexpectedly, Girard The final act finds us in the same Grail locale, now brings refreshing new ideas to this familiar Wagnerian more parched than ever. A funeral is enacted during the take on the Arthurian legends, not the least of which is Prelude. The Christian rituals of anointing the head, the very welcome diminution of the Christian aspects of washing the feet, and Good Friday are present but again the story. Taking his cue from Wagner’s own writings seem strangely universal. The highlight of this second and comments, Girard views the piece not as a represen- Grail ceremony is the healing of Amfortas by the spear- tation of the Last Supper, complete with incense, bells, carrying Parsifal. Only at the very last measure of the and offstage , all in the midst of a Catholic Mass opera does the healed Amfortas stand upright, free of and Christian theology. Negating as much as possible pain for the first time in the opera. Here the Grail is the purely Christian aspects, he emphasizes the strong revealed not by Parsifal but by Kundry, and, in a novel Buddhist roots of the story and thereby opens the work gesture, Parsifal dips the spear into the cup (the Grail).

– 3 – (Why has this never been done before?) The sexual symbolism is obvious, and the renewal of those gath- ered is also apparent: women and knights mix. Kundry dies, relieved of her awful curse, cradled in the arms of Gurnemanz, who passes his hands over her face and closes her eyes. She has found the peace that she has craved for so long, and Amfortas stands, relieved of his pain. Parsifal has brought renewal to all and assumes his role as Grail king. Girard’s miraculous staging is not without a few minor quibbles. None gets in the way of his story telling in any disastrous way. They can be summarized quickly: (1) the constant projections from beginning to end were a superfluous backdrop. They are simply distracting. (2) The presence of the Flower Maidens throughout Act 2, René Pape as Gurnemanz (back), with Jonas Kaufmann as no matter how beautifully choreographed, took the atten- Parsifal and Katarina Dalayman as Kundry in Act 3 tion away from the attempted seduction, performed on Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera and around a bed with white sheets, which were stained with the stage blood. (One wonders what the cleaning enjoying himself. The only (and very slight!) weak vocal budget for costumes was.) (3) The funeral procession/ link was Katarina Dalayman, who did not erase my burial at the beginning of Act 3 leads one to think that warm memories of the vocal opulence of , Titurel is being buried prematurely. This distracted from , and Régine Crespin. However, none of the superlative orchestral playing. these erstwhile artists displayed the depth of acting that Space limitations prohibit a longer discussion of this Dalayman brought to the production. miraculous production and a detailed discussion of the Daniele Gatti conducted without a score, and his singers. Suffice it to say that Jonas Kaufmann covered reading was within traditional tempi. It is clear that he himself in glory each and every time I heard and/or saw has a great affection for the score; he lingered in all the the opera. He is the Parsifal of our time. Each word and right places and drove forward at others, sometimes in phrase was so carefully thought out and so naturally surprising places. However, for this listener, it is the late inflected that it seemed quite spontaneous. But that is the who unquestionably owns this art of the true performer: a blueprint, a conception, an opera. Nobody, including such luminaries as Levine, idea from which to construct an entire evening’s singing. Barenboim, Thielemann, Leinsdorf, Leopold Ludwig, It was clear from the beginning that he got into the char- and William Steinberg, can touch “Kna.” acter. His performance was not about some singing The chorus sang with a startling degree of precision the notes. How seldom does this happen! In a title role and a beautifully warm and focused tone and matching that is only 30 minutes long, Kaufmann brought truly German diction. The Levine-trained Met orchestra, one astonishing perfection of singing and acting. Frankly, I of the glories of the house, was all that one could ask for. would pay money just to hear him sing a plain C-major The solo woodwinds were exquisite, as was the principal scale as a vocalise. trumpet. Seldom has the sound of the tolling bells been René Pape was the lower-voiced partner of Kaufmann. so powerful and compelling. All in all, this is a Parsifal Pape is the outstanding Gurnemanz singing today; there for the ages. We await the release of the DVD so that is nobody finer. His singing in Act 1 alone is longer than we can savor even more details of this truly incredible almost every other opera. And yet, as phenomenal as he production. was, he brought even greater revelations in Act 3. Peter Mattei proved to be the surprise here, as nobody was —— Jeffrey Brody expecting his unbelievable portrayal of the wounded Jeffrey Brody, a composer, conductor, and pianist, is the Amfortas. It is impossible to praise and thank these per- Music Advisor of the Boston Wagner Society. His most recent formers sufficiently. Evgeny Nikitin, in the unfortunately opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was performed by small role of Klingsor, was properly evil and clearly was Longwood Opera two years ago.

– 4 – Metropolitan Opera Panel on or they may have missed three cabs, but the prelude “prepares your soul for another dimension.” Parsifal Gatti said he first conducted the opera in 2008 (his debut) when “my private life was 7 February 2013 quite in trouble. I found in Parsifal some relief to the pain in my soul.” Today he probably conducts it “more You think Parsifal is long? Nein, nein! Its magical music fluidly” in some parts. The length doesn’t matter to can make it seem too short, especially for René Pape, him. Everything in the performance “is the result of a and even if it is long, it will take you to another dimen- pure commitment to what this genius has written.” sion, so you won’t notice. What’s needed is a director Gelb asked how the cast and production influ- who is not afraid of the length, says Jonas Kaufmann. enced Gatti’s approach to tempi; the conductor replied Pape (Gurnemanz) and Kaufmann (Parsifal), before that he doesn’t want to put singers “in a cage” or make the Metropolitan Opera’s bloody production shared them slaves to his tempi, and Kaufmann agreed: “It with Opera National de Lyon and the Canadian Opera depends on the mood, the emotions of that moment. It Company, took the stage on February 7 to talk with the would be a pity to lose that. It’s worth trying to have a Met’s general manager, , conductor Daniele little flexibility.” Gatti, and director François Girard. And director Girard (Thirty-Two Short Films about Gelb, who has become quite adept—and humorous— , The Red Violin, ) said, ”When in leading these panels for Met audiences, admitted that you embrace the slowness, it’s amazing how short it he fears the length of this opera: “I’m afraid of the over- becomes. There is a vortex of time in the music—time time.” He began the talk by noting that Gatti and James has been rescaled. Interest is sustained by the music Levine have tied for the longest Parsifal, at 265 minutes. and the meaning of the words. The length becomes That whiz , naturally, has the shortest, at meaningless.” 220 minutes. (Also see the note below.) Kaufmann added, “I often experience a director The singers understand Gelb’s fear. Kaufmann [who is] afraid of the length, who invents new things, recalled the that (controversially) opened and people get distracted from the power and the the Scala season last December under the baton of magic—let the magic do its trick.” Barenboim, also with Pape. It was a slow performance, Girard elaborated, “To make it resonate the most, and Pape (King Henry) reportedly said, “Oh no, this [we have to] engage the audience. We see the cast sit- will never end!” But “the curtain came in seconds ting onstage with [their] backs to the audience—like an before we had to pay [overtime]. The stage manager was audience—and they strip off their ties and become the going, ‘Come on!’” and Kaufmann (who got raves for knights.” Nevertheless, “We have never been so close his performance) pumped his fists in the air. In his beautiful bass rumble, Pape said that normally he transforms into his characters while putting on the costume in his dressing room. “Here, with the shirt and trousers, you have to think more. You are dressed like a normal human being, not with a long coat.” He recalled singing in his first Met Parsifal with Plácido Domingo: After five hours, “I reached that point [Gurnemanz’s last line], and I thought, No, I don’t want to stop! But I had to.” He’d love to go on for ten. Gatti and Kaufmann said this opera is full of strange things. ”It is like a fairy tale,” according to the tenor. ”You are taken by the hand of in the prelude, and you are ready to believe everything he is telling you.” The prelude is vital to the mood of the audience. Gatti noted that audiences might arrive at the performance after a day when ”stocks are going down” Metropolitan Opera’s Parsifal director, François Girard

– 5 – to the libretto and the stage directions.” Wagner talks Parsifal timings “about the loss of spirituality, fear of the end of the 3.38 Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth, 1970 world, desires, temptations . . . —who we are today.” 3.44 , Bayreuth, 1953 (Jonathan The greatness of Parsifal is measured by his temp- Brown has 3.52) tation, and the Act 2 garden “is our most spectacular 3.49 Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth, 1966 scene.” Kundry lures Parsifal by reminding him of his 3.55 , Copenhagen, 22 March mother, thus using his vulnerability. “We bring the bed 2012 of his parents (onstage), the bed of all love.” 3.58 Wilhelm Furtwängler, Milan, 1951 The production follows “the trace of sinful blood, 4.02 , recorded at holy blood.” Even Parsifal ends up with blood on his Staatsoper, , June 2005 (Deutsche hands. Grammophon) Gelb said that more than 2,000 gallons of stage blood 4.04 , Bayreuth, 1882 are used in Act 2, and this production has more scen- 4.08 Michael Balling, Bayreuth, 1904 ery—and more performers—than any previous Met 4.10 Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth, 1962 production of the opera. 4.12 Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bayreuth, 1936 Then there is the religious issue. Wagner was inter- 4.15 , Bayreuth, 1888 ested in eastern religions, and Girard, who uses 4.17 (1981, Deutsche Buddhist gestures in the production, recognized the Grammophon) work’s Christian roots but noted, “Wagner mixes up a 4.19 , Bayreuth, 1897 lot of dramatic themes, and tries to reconcile all spiri- 4.22 , Bayreuth, 1909 tualities in a quest for the great final religion. He also was working on projects on the Buddha and on Christ” 4.23 Franz Fischer, Bayreuth, 1882 at the time he wrote Parsifal. “Amfortas for me is about 4.23 Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth, 1952 the duality of Buddhism, passion and temptation, and 4.25 Armin Jordan (Hans-Jürgen Syberberg’s to me Parsifal is the total Buddhist archetype. He is film, 1982) on the path from killing a swan for no reason to saving 4.27 , Bayreuth, 1901 the world. . . . I understand the piece through listening 4.28 Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth, 1954 to the music. The music is the only redemption of this 4.29 Willibald Kaehler, Bayreuth, 1924 highly confused libretto.” As Kaufmann put it, “A door 4.33 Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth, 1951 reveals two or three other doors.” 4.33 , Bayreuth, 1990 As for Evgeny Nikitin, whose tattoo of a swastika 4.42 , Bayreuth, 1931 made the headlines last year, Gelb noted that he was Sources: Jonathan Brown, Great Wagner Conduc- absent from the panel, “but he has promised me he is tors: A Listener’s Companion (Parrot Press, 2012); not at a tattoo parlor.” www.monsalvat.no/discogra.htm; www.wagneropera. Gelb also noted that Wagner originally forbade any net; www.haenchen.net. production of Parsifal outside the Bayreuth Festival, The Master has already composed Parsifal to be and the was furious when the Met very slow, so one doesn’t need to add to this by put it on in December 1903 (the first time outside also conducting it slowly. (Richard Strauss to the Bayreuth). “But they’ve forgiven us. Eva Wagner will orchestra during rehearsals). be at the premiere next Friday, so we have the Wagner Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” (Eva Wagner- —— Jeannie Williams Pasquier is the Met’s senior artistic advisor.) Jeannie Williams, a board member of the Wagner Society of Note: See this list of Parsifal timings at www.wagneropera. New York, is the author of Jon Vickers: A Hero’s Life and net. Toscanini clocked in at the slowest, 282 minutes, at has written for many music/opera publications, including Bayreuth in 1931. , Magazine, BBC Music Magazine, and for the New York Philharmonic Playbill. She was also the editor of the Metropolitan Opera’s patron newsletter.

– 6 – An Allegorical Portrait of Richard Wagner with His Muse A fine black and white lithograph, entitled The Muse and placed at the beginning of a biography of Richard Wagner published in in 1886, depicts a highly unusual scene. The composer, shown in profile, sits writing at a desk while looking upward as if seek- ing inspiration. Behind him stands a seminude young woman who holds up a palm frond in her right hand. A fire burns at the left, as if on an altar, before a dark background of vegetation. Though the standing figure puts her left hand reassuringly around Wagner’s shoul- der, the two figures do not look directly at each other. Despite the realism of the way Wagner is depicted, his muse here is not his wife, Cosima. The idea that the for- midable Cosima could appear as a gently inspiring muse may seem odd; nevertheless, Wagner himself saw her in this way. In 1874 she was depicted in this guise in a relief carving by Robert Krausse placed over the front door of , Wagner’s house in Bayreuth. In a lengthy letter to his patron, King Ludwig II of , Wagner includes an interpretation of the iconography of the frieze: It is a monumental representation of the “Art-Work of the Future.” The central section is taken up by Germanic myth; since we wanted the figures to Henri Fantin-Latour, The Muse, lithograph, from have characteristic features, we gave this one the Adolphe Jullien, Richard Wagner, sa vie et ses oeuvres head of the late Ludwig Schnorr; Wotan’s ravens (Paris, 1886), f Typ 815.86.4695, Houghton Library, can be seen flying toward him on either side, while Harvard University. he relates the tidings that he has received to two along with reproductions of many other works by vari- female figures, one of whom represents classical ous artists; an expanded English translation in two tragedy in the likeness of [Wilhemine] Schroeder- volumes was published in Boston in 1892. This was the Devrient [a who inspired Wagner], the first biography of Wagner in any language with exten- other being music, with the head and figure of sive visual documentation, and it is indicative of the Cosima; a small boy, armed like Siegfried and with strong interest in Wagner’s work among French writers the head of my son, holds her by the hand and and artists in the mid-1880s. For this project all exam- looks up at his mother, music, with high-spirited ples of Fantin’s lithographs seem to have been placed delight. (S. Spencer and B. Millington, eds., in the French volumes, except for seven or eight sets of Selected Letters of Richard Wagner [1987], p. 842) trial proofs for Fantin and four sets printed on special While the features of Schroeder-Devrient may be papers for Jullien. The images are a little smaller than recognizable in the Wahnfried relief, those of Cosima most of Fantin’s other Wagnerian lithographs in order and Siegfried are too generalized to be identifiable. to fit the dimensions of Jullien’s book. Two of the other The 1886 lithograph was one of fourteen commis- images for the book, the frontispiece and the print at the sioned for the biography from the painter and lithogra- end, also have allegorical themes but do not represent pher Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904). The original Wagner. The other eleven lithographs depict scenes lithographs were bound directly into a lavish volume, from Wagner’s operas, one for each work from to Adolphe Jullien’s Richard Wagner, sa vie et ses oeuvres, Parsifal.

– 7 – Though the lithographs for Jullien were Fantin’s larg- he did not understand German), the performances, and est Wagnerian project, he had been interested in such even the sets and costumes, which some German critics themes for twenty-five years. Fantin, an avid concert- found old-fashioned. Returning to Paris, Fantin in 1877 goer, first heard transcriptions of Wagner’s music in painted a small, brilliantly colored picture of the sleep the late 1850s. For the Paris production of Tannhäuser of Brünnhilde in the conclusion of Die Walküre (Musée in 1861, a notorious failure, Fantin had a ticket to the Fabre, Montpellier). His greatest effort, however, was in fourth performance, which Wagner canceled. By the lithography: he was to produce dozens of lithographs on following year Fantin nevertheless produced Scene from Wagnerian subjects between 1876 and the early 1890s. Tannhäuser, his first lithograph, based on the controver- The avant-garde Revue wagnérienne, to which Fantin had sial Venusberg scene; he then revised and expanded this contributed an Evocation of Erda, his third plate on the subject, in 1886 published an incomplete catalogue of Fantin’s Wagnerian lithographs; eighteen were listed, not including allegorical subjects or the group for Jullien. By the time of Wagner’s death, Fantin was probably the leading European artist in the field of Wagnerian subjects. Fantin was one of a small number of promi- nent artists from Germany and other countries who in 1883 were invited to contribute to a memorial album to be published in . After sketching a number of variations, Fantin provided a lithograph, On the Death of Richard Wagner, showing a winged female figure hold- ing a palm frond. With her other hand she scatters pet- als on a slab bearing Wagner’s name and resembling his actual tomb behind his home in Bayreuth (Baÿreuther Festblaetter in Wort und Bild [1884], p. 46). Fantin’s picture was the only allegorical subject depicted in the album. The iconography of female figures mourning at the monument of a dead composer was not unusual; Fantin himself had used this motif in memorial prints and paintings for Robert Schumann and . Typically the composer was not depicted, though he might be presented symbolically. A monumental exam- ple is Auguste Clésinger’s marble sculpture of a mourn- ing muse of Music atop the tomb of Frédéric Chopin in Paris; Chopin himself is represented in profile in a portrait medallion on the base of the sculpture. Henri Fantin-Latour, On the Death of Richard Wagner, In The Muse, the depiction of Wagner is portrait-like: lithograph, from Baÿreuther Festblaetter in Wort und though his hair is not white, the composer is shown as Bild (Munich, 1884). an older man, with hollowed cheeks and lines drawn at the mouth. The Muse, on the other hand, is an idealized into a large painting, shown at the Paris Salon of 1864. young woman with beautiful, if generalized, features. (See Wagneriana, Fall 2011.) Though this combination is unusual in the essentially After a long hiatus, during which he concentrated on realistic art of the nineteenth century, the subject of portraiture and still life painting, Fantin unexpectedly artist and muse has a long history. Beginning in ancient obtained tickets to the fourth and final performances of Greek times, authors were shown accompanied by the premiere of the Ring at the Bayeuth Festival in 1876. the appropriate member of the nine Muses of Mount These were the first operas by Wagner that Fantin saw. Helicon, the patrons of all the arts. The best-preserved Fantin was enchanted with everything he encountered examples are in durable media such as mosaics dating at the Bayreuth Festival: the music, the story (though from late antique Roman villas. Usually a poet (Homer,

– 8 – Hesiod) is shown seated, with his muse, a female figure from 1842 in the Musée de Luxembourg and from 1874 in classical garb, standing next to or behind him. The in the Louvre, where Fantin, a frequent visitor, easily two figures do not look at each other. In regard to book could have seen it. illustration (the genre of Fantin’s lithograph), the for- Fantin’s composition for The Muse seems to have mat of ancient books in rolls was not favorable to such evolved gradually from the artist’s earlier works. The elaborate depictions, but allegorical author-portraits 1886 lithograph, no. 62 in Germain Hédiard’s 1892 of this kind seem to have been introduced soon after catalogue of Fantin’s lithographs, was preceded by two the adoption of the codex, or modern book, in the first compositionally related works. In the lithographs The century AD. Musician (1877; Hédiard no. 13) and The Poet and the Comparable depictions of composers appear only Muse (1883; Hédiard no. 45), a generic, bearded artist during the Romantic period of the early nineteenth in Renaissance garb is seated and working at a desk century, when the notion of genius was first applied to musicians. One of the few examples by a major art- ist is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ painting and the Muse of Lyric Poetry (1836–1842, Musée d’Orsay, Paris). The Florentine-born Cherubini (1760–1842) is represented today in the international operatic repertory only by his somber tragedy Médée (1797). During the French Revolution, however, Cherubini’s “rescue” operas had a great influence throughout Europe, most notably on , ’s only opera. Cherubini was also, coin- cidentally, one of the few living composers Wagner regarded favorably. During Wagner’s first long stay in Paris (1839–1842), Cherubini was no longer writing for the operatic stage but was still active as director of the prestigious Paris Conservatoire. Atypically for works by Ingres, Cherubini’s portrait is in rather poor condition. The figure of the Muse is a late addition, perhaps at the time of the composer’s death; though designed by Ingres, it may have been painted by one of his students. The head and neck of the Muse are obscured by a heavy crackle, the result of faulty paint application, and the head of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Luigi Cherubini and the composer, on a separate piece of canvas, has been the Muse of Lyric Poetry, oil on canvas, 1836–1842. moved, probably to make room for the Muse’s arm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Photo credit: Eric Lessing/Art The picture nevertheless shows the contrast between Resource, New York. the realism of the composer’s depiction and the hazy idealization of the Muse (now somewhat obscured by before a seminude Muse. In the first print the musician damage) also seen later in Fantin-Latour’s lithograph. looks up directly at the Muse, who puts her hand on The physical and psychological separation between the his shoulder. In the second composition the two figures figures is consistent with the long tradition of images of look in different directions and barely seem aware of artist and muse. Edward Lucie-Smith, who notes the each other. connection of Ingres’ painting to Fantin (Henri Fantin- With these works as preparation, Fantin moved Latour [1977], p. 153), points out that Cherubini was surely in adopting his definitive Wagnerian composi- exhibited in Paris at the Ingres memorial exhibition of tion. While executing On the Death of Richard Wagner 1867. This was, however, nearly twenty years prior to in 1883–84, Fantin had made numerous sketches before Fantin’s picture of Richard Wagner and his muse. The arriving at the final composition. By contrast, only one Ingres picture was on public view in Paris continuously study is known for The Muse: a loosely drawn but rela-

– 9 – tively complete charcoal sketch in the Louvre (Lucie- Swiss Symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin that he paint Smith, Fantin-Latour, pl. 106). Very close to the litho- the sets for Parsifal reportedly resulted in the following graph of The Muse, drawn in reverse from left to right, exchange: the sketch seems to return to the idea of The Musician, Wagner: So you don’t seem to understand much though the figures are closer together. There is one about music? small but significant difference between the sketch and Böcklin: More, I hope, than you understand about the lithograph: in the sketch, Wagner turns his head painting, dear Master. slightly toward the Muse and appears to look up at her; in the lithograph, on the other hand, he looks straight (T. Picard, ed., Dictionnaire encyclopédique Wagner forward and upward, as if unaware of the Muse’s pres- [2010], p. 1583) ence. Thus he appears to seek inspiration rather than The most celebrated artist today among those for supernatural aid, returning to a long tradition of depic- whom Wagner posed, the French Impressionist painter tions of artist and muse. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, caught up with the composer in Despite a massive German bibliography of books on Palermo in 1882, barely a year before Wagner’s death. Wagner’s life and works in pictures, Fantin-Latour’s Wagner was in a good mood, having just finished the lithograph is rarely mentioned, probably because it is full score of Parsifal, and he allowed a half-hour sitting seen as a “subject picture” (an allegory) rather than a for his portrait (Musée d’Orsay, Paris). It is doubtful portrait. Solveig Weber did include the print among the that Wagner had heard of Renoir, though Cosima was portraits in her dissertation on Wagner aware that the painter belonged to iconography, though she did not know the Impressionist school. Predictably, the source of the image and was unsure Given his celebrity, Wagner was not enthusiastic about about its authorship (Das Bild Richard there are surpris- the result, comparing his pale image Wagners [1993], vol. 1, p. 245, vol. alternatively to that of a Protestant 2, fig. 274). What is the origin of the ingly few original pastor or, more imaginatively, to “the portrait elements in Fantin’s picture of embryo of a monkfish ange[ ] swal- Wagner? It is well known that Wagner depictions of Wagner lowed by an epicure who thinks it’s did not like to pose in artists’ studios in the “noble” genres an oyster” (, Die and got along badly with painters, in Tagebücher, vol. 2 [1977], p. 873 [15 particular with famous artists who of oil painting and January 1882]). Renoir for his part were used to having their own way. seems to have been exasperated by the Given his celebrity, there are surpris- portrait busts. many provocative comments on social ingly few original depictions of Wagner and artistic issues that Wagner made in the “noble” genres of oil painting during the session. He put the paint- and portrait busts. In a letter of 10 ing aside, possibly unfinished, and did December 1871 to his wife Cosima, Wagner complains not exhibit it until after the composer’s death. of the prominent Munich portraitist Franz von Lenbach: In contrast to his reluctance to sit for portraits in I was with him today in his sumptuous studio from painting or sculpture, Wagner was very interested in 1 o’clock until 4 . . . I was then subjected to 2 hours’ photographic portraits. He posed for dozens of such harassment, and made to sit first in one place and images in the leading studios of Munich, Paris, Brussels, then in another, first like this and then like that. and . Previously unknown photographic por- (Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, p. 786) traits of Wagner are still being discovered today (G. Though Lenbach later became something of a court Föttinger in Wagnerspectrum, no. 1 [2011]: 143f.). Often painter at Wahnfried, he had mixed feelings about he wore his favorite “Reformation” attire, including a Wagner, referring privately to the composer as “His fur- or silk-trimmed jacket and a Rembrandtesque soft Holiness” or “Kasperl [a clown puppet] from Bayreuth.” velvet cap; this costume emphasized both his persona Wagner in turn, according to Cosima, sometimes found as an artist and his identification with the German the “Prince of Painters” “antipathetic” (W. Hansen, Renaissance, the period of his beloved Meistersinger. Richard Wagner: Sein Leben in Bildern [2007], p. 124). Usually shown in partial profile, Wagner adopted In 1880 Wagner’s improbable proposal to the famous expressions that exuded purposeful confidence. Wagner

– 10 – was able to exert more control over his idealized public image with photographers than with painters. Franz von Lenbach eventually painted many pictures of Wagner, mainly on commissions from Cosima. Despite the pos- ing sessions mentioned by Wagner, however, most, if not all, of the Lenbach portraits ultimately derive from photographs (Weber, Das Bild Richard Wagners, vol. 2). Though a distinguished portrait painter, Fantin- Latour, unlike his friend Renoir, never had the rath- er mixed blessing of a posing session with Wagner. Nevertheless, he did observe Wagner on several occa- sions and has left written descriptions of the composer. During the inaugural Bayreuth Festival of 1876, Fantin saw Wagner several times and reported on his appear- ance in letters to his friends. From Bayreuth he wrote enthusiastically to the critic Edmond Maître: How pleased I am to be here! I saw Wagner from rather close up. He seems aged [vieilli], his hair nearly all white. He is quite small. An old scholar or diplomat. Madame [Cosima Wagner] closely resembles [her father, Franz] Liszt, whom one sees everywhere, always surrounded by women . . . . [Wagner] seems tired, as if exhausted. (A. Jullien, Fantin-Latour, sa vie et ses oeuvres [1909], pp. 116 and 119) Fantin’s correspondence with the German-born painter Otto Scholderer, published only in 2011, con- Elliot and Fry, London, Richard Wagner, photograph, tains a similar description: 1877. I saw Wagner from very close up last night. We slipped into the wings, where he was saying fare- other artists, based his posthumous portrait of Wagner well to his entourage. . . . I am sending you a very on a photograph. Many of Wagner’s photographic accurate portrait of him; he seems exhausted; I portraits, like the one illustrated here (and also in am afraid for him. One would say that this glory Jullien’s 1886 book), show the composer in full profile. will be the end of him! (Correspondance entre Henri Other photographs show him seated at a desk in three- Fantin-Latour et Otto Scholderer [2011], p. 253) quarter profile, his hand in his jacket. Nevertheless, We know, however, from Scholderer’s reply that the an exhaustive catalogue of these portrait photographs portrait of Wagner was not a sketch by Fantin but a (M. Geck, Die Bildnisse Richard Wagners [1970]) does commercially available photograph. not include any in the precise pose chosen by Fantin. Fantin’s comment that Wagner looked aged is Perhaps research occasioned by the Wagner bicenten- ambiguous; it could mean that the composer seemed nial in 2013 will reveal that a photograph is one of the old, or that he looked older than he had when Fantin sources for an allegorical portrait that remains unique is had seen him on some previous occasion. If the lat- Fantin-Latour’s large lithographic output. ter, the most likely occasion would have been during —— Donald Rosenthal the concerts of his own music that Wagner conducted in Paris in January and February 1860; it is likely that Donald Rosenthal is a member of the Advisory Board Fantin attended at least one of these. of the Boston Wagner Society and the associate editor of There is no evidence that Fantin sketched Wagner’s Wagneriana. appearance during these brief observations. It therefore seems most probable that Fantin, like Lenbach and – 11 – Die Walküre (simulcast) We sit in the theater, lost in the story, we’re at the house in the woods with a huge ash tree growing through it where Siegmund and Sieglinde declare their love, while snow falls incessantly outside and evil Hunding lurks in the next room. I’ve seen this opera before but this time it’s unexpectedly moving, probably because the singers are not the usual hefty Wagnerian types but are young and beautiful. I reach for your hand. Just as the two of them are about to discover their shared past, the screen goes blank— forest, snow, house, ash tree, lovers gone in an instant, replaced by a vast rectangle of whiteness, with a message in the center: Signal from remote server has been lost. Click here for more options. Dismay, then outrage from the audience. The unseen technician in the projection booth does something or other, and the opera returns— we’ve lost only three minutes or so. But now I’m uneasy, wondering if the story will disappear again, if we’ll miss the crucial moment when Siegmund rejects eternal life in Valhalla so he can stay in this world with Sieglinde. And what about our world? Will we walk out our front door tomorrow and find everything gone? Sky, trees, birds, city streets, people on bicycles, children playing? Our love for each other, our shared past? All replaced by a giant white screen with an error message in neat black type.

—— Mary Ellen Geer Reprinted with permission from Life/Afterlife (Finishing Line Press, 2012).

– 12 – The Boston Lyric Opera’s Senta and Dutchman Speak Soprano Allison Oakes and Bass- Alfred Walker will perform Senta and the Dutchman, respec- tively, during the Boston Lyric Opera’s run of Der flieg- ende Holländer in April and May. The Boston Wagner Society spoke with these two artists on the joys and challenges of performing these difficult roles.

Allison Oakes Interview

Q. Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Have you per- formed Wagner before? If yes, have you sung Senta on stage? If yes, where? A. Well, I’m British, born in Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford­ shire, and have been standing on the stage in one form or another since I was six. When I was taken to the the- atre as a young child, I knew that I wanted to be stand- ing on the other side of the curtain; the only question was, doing what? After a short period studying at the Birmingham Conservatoire in the UK, I left to study in Weimar, a beautiful town packed with history in the middle of Germany. There I started life as a mezzo- Allison Oakes soprano, but my vocal teacher, Professor Gudrun Photographer: Samantha Dietmar, Berlin Fischer, said she expected me to become a soprano later, and I guess she was correct. I never thought I would similar. Of course, I have to warm the voice up and sing Wagner, though, ever! But winning the first prize do body-stretching exercises. Singing is like a sport in an international Wagner competition soon took care and needs a warmed-up body; otherwise one can hurt of that. I have now sung Elsa, one of the Flower Girls in oneself. Oh, and I forgot to mention the bananas. I eat Parsifal, and Senta. My first Senta was in the theatre in one just before going on stage and one at every interval , Germany, and was a fantastic production; if there is time. in fact, I have been really very lucky with my Wagner Q. Which segment do you find the most challenging? productions so far. A. That will stay my well-protected secret. If I were to Q. From what we understand, this Flying Dutchman is spill those beans, everybody would listen extra hard at Wagner’s early version of the opera, the Scottish ver- that moment. It’s similar to when a weather forecaster sion. How does it differ from the later version that we says there will be rain, so everybody expects rain! all know? Is the music any different? How about the Q. How do you feel about the heroine? Is she a sympathetic story? character who genuinely wants to help the Dutchman or A. I can’t speak for the other roles, but the main differ- a mentally ill person, as she is portrayed in this produc- ence in my role is that Senta’s aria is a tone higher, and tion and others? How would you describe her obsession there are some small text differences too, especially the with the Dutchman? names of some of the other characters. A. Wow, I had no idea that this production will Q. What special preparations do you have to make to sing depict Senta as mentally ill. We’ll see. I think Senta this arduous role? is a young girl full of dreams and desperately seek- A. Generally, I like to meditate in the afternoon and eat ing a way out of her situation. People in that posi- pasta beforehand; I think most singers do something tion or mental state would go to great lengths to

– 13 – know what the conductor or director may want, and it’s good to have different possibilities at your fingertips.

Q. Since this is Wagner’s Scottish version of Der flieg- ende Holländer, do you notice any differences from the Norwegian version in your character? A. Essentially, I think the Dutchman is who he is. Of course, when I have conversations with the director and see the set and costumes, I may be inspired to make some changes in what I do. That is part of the fun of the rehearsal process.

Q. What is your emotional/psychological approach to the Dutchman? Is he someone we need/want to pity or feel compassion for? Is he a zombie-like ghoulish character, as he is sometimes portrayed? Or something else? A. As an actor, it’s important to remember how tired the Dutchman must feel. He’s hundreds of years old and would like to die but can’t. I think he feels awkward around humans because he doesn’t share our physical needs and aspirations. He should appear strange to the Alfred Walker audience because he’s from another time, but not zom- Photographer: Lisa Kohler bie-like or creepy to look upon. An interesting costume and a gray complexion are sufficient. The audience has to be able to relate to him and his plight.

believe in or even create a way out. If desperation is a Q. Do you think you might sing Wotan someday? What mental illness, then maybe she is ill. I will wait to see special challenges are there in this role besides the what the director would like, and I will try to portray length? this to my audience. A. I was offered the full Ring Cycle in a new produc- tion just recently, but because I was heavily scheduled, Alfred Walker Interview I decided not to accept. Wotan must evolve over the course of the operas, so I think this presents a great Q. You have sung several Wagnerian roles already. Is challenge both as a singer and as an actor. He must singing the Dutchman different from, say, Amfortas or sound vocally mature but vibrant. I like to compare Kurwenal? What do you need to do to prepare for it? the role to deciding when to open a prized bottle of A. I think the Dutchman is different from the other Cabernet Sauvignon. Timing is everything! Wagner baritone roles that I’ve done. Of course, —— Dalia Geffen all Wagner roles have difficult demands, but the Dutchman is very intense. His first entrance on stage Dalia Geffen is the president and founder of the Boston begins with the monologue “Die Frist ist um,” which Wagner Society. requires the singer to establish himself right away. Kurwenal, Amfortas, and even Telramund allow the singer to ease into the part before their big moments, but the Dutchman requires immediate vocal and emo- tional intensity from the start. In my preparation for the Dutchman, I concentrate on emotional intensity, vocal economy, and vocal colors, all motivated by the breath. As a general rule, I often practice at least three different ways to sing a phrase because it’s impossible to

– 14 – Upcoming Events Richard Wagner 1813 – 1883 Bicentennial

Saturday, April 13, 2 p.m. Jon Vickers: A Man and His Music Documentary and exhibit by Vickers’s biographer Jeannie Williams Brookline Public Library 361 Washington Street Brookline, MA 02445 Free to all

Monday, May 6, 6 p.m. Q&A with Jay Hunter Morris and Ron Della Chiesa A reception will follow The College Club 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116 Tickets: $25; members $20; students $10 www.jayhuntermorris.eventbrite.com or 617-323-6088

Saturday, May 11, 2 p.m. Highlights from the Ring Cycle With Greer Grimsley, Joanna Porackova, Alan Schneider, Marion Dry, Kevin Owen, and Jeffrey Brody Q&A with Ron Della Chiesa to follow Old South Church, Copley Square Tickets In advance: $28; members $23; students $10 (no fees) www.ringcycle.eventbrite.com or 617-323-6088 At the door: $30; members $25; students $10

Wednesday, May 22, evening Birthday concert With Harry Huff, Joanna Porackova, Alan Schneider, Marion Dry, and Jeffrey Brody In conjunction with the St. Botolph Club and the Harvard Musical Association Details to come. Check the web site.

– 15 – at Old South Church in Copley Square at 2 p.m. Greer Grimsley will be our Wotan, Joanna Porackova will sing Sieglinde and Brünnhilde, Alan Wagneriana Schneider will perform Siegmund and Siegfried, Marion Dry will sing Erda, Kevin Owen will play Siegfried’s Call, and Jeffrey Brody, our pianist, will perform Siegfried’s Funeral March, as well as all of the accompaniment. The concert will be followed by a Q&A with the artists, moderated by Ron Della Chiesa. As always, members are entitled to a discount. For tickets, go to www.ringcycle.eventbrite.com or call 617-323-6088. On May 22, Wagner’s birthday, the Boston Wagner Society is teaming up with the St. Botolph Club and the Harvard Musical Association to present an all-Wagner organ and vocal concert. The performers are Harry Huff, Joanna Porackova, Alan Schneider, Marion Dry, and Jeffrey Brody. The concert will be followed by an optional dinner at the St. Botolph Club. Details will be sent. The Metropolitan Opera’s Parsifal was a wonder to behold, whether you saw it on HD or in the house. Not everyone warmed up to the production, but no one can dispute the stunning quality of the singing. We offer a review here by Music Advisor Jeffrey Brody, as well as a report on a Metropolitan Opera panel by Jeannie Williams, our April 13 Jon Vickers presenter. From April 26 through May 5, the Boston Lyric Opera will stage the Wagneriana is a publication of the early, Scottish version of The Flying Dutchman. Many members bought Boston Wagner Society discounted group tickets through us. See the interviews with the two © The Boston Wagner Society, Inc. Contact us at principal singers in this issue. On April 17, the BLO’s music director, David [email protected]; Angus, will give a free talk and presentation on this 1841 version of the opera 617-323-6088 at the Boston Public Library, with recorded music examples and projected www.bostonwagnersociety.org slides. This event, which took place in New York on March 18, was well Find us on Facebook, Twitter received by members of the Wagner Society of New York. For other BLO events, go to www.blo.org. So much to savor! Publisher Dalia Geffen and Editor —— Dalia Geffen Associate Donald Rosenthal Editor Designer Susan Robertson Proofreader Paul Geffen Logo Design Sasha Geffen