Das Rheingold Symposium

Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane – Friday 24 August 2012

Occasional Newsletter No. 1, March 2012

To mark the Brisbane concert performances of Wagner’s Das Rheingold by the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Simone Young, an all-day Symposium devoted to Das Rheingold will be held in the Conservatorium Theatre in Brisbane’s South Bank arts precinct. This Symposium is open to the general public. Expert speakers will explore the socially enlightened ideas that shaped Das Rheingold; its unique place in the history of opera; its anticipation of cinematic techniques long before the invention of that art form, and Wagner’s exceptional demands on singers, orchestras and designers. Conductor Simone Young will take part in the Symposium, as will dramatic soprano Lisa Gasteen, celebrated for her performances as Brünnhilde, Isolde and other major Wagnerian roles around the world. By way of a musical interlude, there will be a performance of the rarely-heard Seven Pieces for Goethe’s Faust, composed by Wagner at the age of eighteen.

Tickets are available from 12 March 2012 at Qtix: 136 246 or www.qtix.com.au. The box office for the Hamburg concerts and the Hamburg Ballet has opened at www.qpac.com.au

This Symposium is being organized by the Wagner Society in Queensland in association with the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Enquiries: Coordinator Peter Bassett email: [email protected] or www.wagnersociety.com.

Das Rheingold Symposium Friday 24 August 2012 – Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane

Registration and documentation from 8:30 am 9:15 – 9:30 am Welcome Hal Davis, President of the Wagner Society in Queensland. Professor Huib Schippers, Director of Queensland Conservatorium 9:30 – 10:10 am What Price Love? – Wagner’s ideas at the heart of Das Rheingold. Peter Bassett 10:10 – 10:40 am Simone Young in Hamburg Excerpts from a documentary film Simone Young: Die Dirigentin by German film-maker Ralf Pleger. Also featuring the Hamburg Philharmonic, Lisa Gasteen, Petra Lang, Placido Domingo and Daniel Barenboim. 10:40 – 11:10 am Refreshment Break 11:10 – 12:00 Simone Young in Brisbane. 12:00 – 12:50 pm The Birth of Film out of the Spirit of Music - the cinematic in Das Rheingold Dr Graham Bruce 12:50 – 2:00 pm Lunch. Own arrangements; map of lunch venues on the Southbank will be provided. 2:00 – 2:30 pm Seven Pieces for Goethe’s Faust (1831) by Richard Wagner. Students of the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University 2:30 – 3:20 pm A Most Original Mind - Convergence of theory and practice in Das Rheingold. Dr Stephen Emmerson 3:20 - 3:40 pm Refreshment Break 3:40 - 4:20 pm Preparing major Wagnerian roles. Professor Lisa Gasteen 4:20 – 5:00 pm Das Rheingold: ‘a morass of horrors and sublimities!’ (Wagner to Liszt, 15 January 1854) Round Table discussion chaired by Leo Schofield.

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21 July – 4 November 2012 | Queensland Art Gallery | Ticketed. Purchase tickets in advance online at www.qtix.com.au or telephone 136 246

1 Conservatorium Theatre 2 Queensland Performing Arts Centre 3 Queensland Art Gallery 4 State Library 5 Gallery of Modern Art 6 South Brisbane Railway Station. Link to Airport see: http://www.airtrain.com.au/pdf/WeekdaysDec11.pdf 7 Queen Street Mall

For details of places to eat and drink at Southbank see: http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/eat-and- drink/search