No: 220 January 2016 Wagner news Number 220 January 2016 CONTENTS

4 Bayreuth Ballot 2016 Andrea Buchanan

6 The Eighth International Wagner Singing Competition, Karlsruhe Andrea Buchanan

8 Bayreuth Ring Robert Mitchell

9 Default Chairs Ken Sunshine

10 Fussen: The Ring with a view Tim Cantor

12 Wagner in Sao Paulo Matthew Evans

13 Rehearsal Orchestra / Mastersingers Parsifal Act III Katie Barnes

16 Chelsea Opera Das Liebesverbot Katie Barnes

18 The Wagner Society 2015 Singing Competition Katie Barnes

21 The Carole Rees Awards 2015 Katie Barnes

24 Wotan: A Lifetime’s Work Paul Carey Jones

26 Stuart Pendred doesn’t just sing…. Roger Lee

28 Wagner Symposium: Gesamtkunstwerk Heath Lees

30 Christian Thielemann: My Life with Wagner John Crowther

32 Saffron Opera Das Rheingold Francis Lambert

33 The Rinse Cycle Roger Lee

Christmas Party Catherine Dobson

35 Wagner Society Contacts

36 Events Andrea Buchanan

Cover photo: Wagner Society 2015 Singing Competition Winner Katie Stevenson.

Printed by Rap Spiderweb – www.rapspiderweb.com 0161 947 3700 FROM OUR SINGING COMPETITION WINNER See: Pages 18 to 20

Making a clean sweep of all three prizes: The 2015 Wagner Society Singing Competition, The President’s Award and the Audience Prize, Mezzo Soprano Katie Stevenson said: “My career as a singer has become incredibly exciting since the Wagner Society Singing Competition Finals and I am looking forward to what my future involvement with the Society and the Wagnerian repertoire holds. I was thrilled to be in the Final and grateful for the opportunity to perform for such an esteemed panel and receptive audience. I would have been content with any result, but to get such wonderful recognition for performing the music I am so enamoured with is a great privilege. Thank you!”

–3– BAYREUTH BALLOT 2016 Ticket availability Andrea Buchanan Once again, we are delighted to announce that we will be holding a ballot in January for members to apply for tickets to attend the Bayreuth Festival in the summer of 2016. We will be sending out the usual details and ballot slips by e-mail in January to all members. If you are not yet on our e-mailing list and would like to participate, please either let us have your e-mail address or that of a friend, relative or colleague that we can use for the ballot.

We have already received our ticket allocation from the Friends of Bayreuth for the following:

2 x Der fliegende Holländer 3rd August Parkett Rechts Row 23 Seats 23 and 24

2 x Tristan und Isolde 5th August Parkett Rechts Row 23 Seats 17 and 18

2 x Parsifal 6th August Parkett Rechts Row 28 Seats 26 and 27

In addition we are likely to receive a special allocation from the RWVI this year as follows:

4 sets of tickets for Ring Cycle 2 starting 7th August Loge Links Row 2 Seats 1 to 4

2 x Tristan und Isolde 9th August Parkett Links Row 25 Seats16 and 17

2 x Der fliegende Holländer 18th August Parkett Rechts Row 27 Seats 25 and 26

2 x Tristan und Isolde 3rd August Loge Links Row 2 Seats 1 and 2

Prices to be announced.

This ballot affords an opportunity for those who would like to attend the Festival to apply for tickets. While winning is not guaranteed, the odds in recent years have been favourable, as not many of you have taken part. We hope that rather more of you might consider giving it a go this time round.

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EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION FOR WAGNER VOICES Karlsruhe, 1 st – 3 rd October 2015 Andrea Buchanan The competition was held in glorious Autumn sunshine in the delightful city of Karlsruhe, coinciding with the celebrations of 25 years of German reunification. A large group of Wagner Society members gathered to watch the events over three days, growing in size as the weekend progressed. There was a considerable contingent from France (the Wagner Societies of Paris, Marseille and Toulouse were represented), the UK (London and Scotland), Singapore (on the lookout for singers for their 2016 production of Der fliegende Holländer ) and a large number from various German Verbands. Several members of the Praesidium of the RWVI also attended. 18 semifinalists performed in the Badisches Staatstheater, who had most kindly sponsored the event by donating the use of their premises for the competition. Each singer, accompanied by one of three talented young pianists, performed two pieces, of which one had to be by Wagner. There was a noticeable predominance of female singers, and of these, the majority were sopranos. The singers came from far and wide: Japan, Korea, UK/New Zealand, USA, Australia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Croatia, Poland, France, Austria and of course Germany, where many of the singers were currently studying or working. The quality of singing was pretty high, although it was observed by many (the author of this piece included) that several of the singers appeared to be more comfortable in their non-Wagner Fach! We heard, as one so often does at Wagner competitions, several renditions of Einsam in trüben Tagen and Dich teure Halle , although the variations in interpretation held the attention of the audience and led to much lively discussion during the interval. There was a great deal of talent on display, even if not always of the Wagnerian type and the audience greatly enjoyed the evening, voicing their own opinions of who should be chosen to proceed to the finals. The jury of eight, led by Eva Wagner-Pasquier, consisting of intendants and music directors from European opera houses and including an opera director from Turkey, adjudicated both the semis and the finals. At the end of the first evening, after a short break for the jury’s deliberations six singers were announced for the finals: Marina Harris soprano USA Sayaka Shigeshima mezzo soprano Japan Daniel Phillip Witte tenor Germany Insu Hwang bass-baritone Korea Kirstin Sharpin soprano UK/New Zealand Kathleen Parker soprano Australia In the event Ms Shigeshima was unable to perform in the finals due to an unexpected work commitment and her place was taken by Maria Lobanova, a soprano from Lithuania. After the semifinals several members of the audience, the singers and the jury repaired upstairs to enjoy a light supper and drinks. This was a delightful, informal occasion and was, in line with the rest of the event, very well organised. On the evening between the semis and the finals guests were treated to an outstanding concert performance of Act III of Parsifal with the Badisches Staatskapelle

–6– and the soloists from the production currently playing in Karlsruhe. The orchestra, conductor and soloists exceeded expectations, giving a stirring and moving performance and it proved to be unquestionably a delightful evening. The finals were held on October 3rd, once again in the packed auditorium of the opera house. All the finalists performed to the accompaniment of a full orchestra and this time each singer had to present two pieces of Wagner. Repertoire varied from the highly dramatic ( Senta's Ballade ) to the wistful ( Einsam in trüben Tagen ) to the passionate ( Du bist der Lenz ), the ecstatic ( Winterstürme ) and the contemplative ( Mein Vater! ), giving the singers ample opportunity to display their various strengths and technical abilities. In the end the sopranos won the day, with The Dorothea Glatt Prize (for the final time) going to Marina Harris, the Wolfgang Wagner and Audience prizes to Kathleen Parker and the RWVI prize for the overall winner to Kirstin Sharpin. Needless to say, the author was overjoyed, as The Wagner Society had sponsored Kirstin in this competition. Professor Alessandra Althoff-Pugliese stood in for President of the RWVI Horst Eggers in giving the summing up. She reminded the audience that the loud and dramatic performance was not always the most convincing, and that the aim of the competition was to identify singers with the potential to become Wagnerians after further vocal development and stage experience. These guidelines had led the jury to award the prizes to the singers named above. She thanked the jury, all the sponsors and the audience for their support and reconfirmed the commitment of the RWVI to continuing their support and endorsement of this prestigious competition. Particular thanks were extended to Professor Hans-Michael Schneider, President of the RWVI Karlsruhe, whose hard work and dedication made the event possible. The organisation was professional and efficient, yet relaxed and congenial. The finals were followed by an informal farewell buffet supper, once again really well organised with superb food and drink. We were all sad to be leaving and will retain wonderful memories of a wholly delightful occasion. The next competition will be held in 2018, hopefully once again in Karlsruhe.

Daniel Philipp Witte, Marina Harris, Kathleen Parker, Kirstin Sharpin, Maria Lobanova, Insu Hwang

–7– DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN Bayreuth Festival: 7 th , 8 th , 10 th , and 12 th August 2015 Robert Mitchell Perhaps I'm getting too old. At the end of each evening I felt exhausted and had no sense of spiritual or emotional enrichment described so well in Dr Dawson-Bowling's Wagner Experience . Instead I usually felt annoyed for all the usual reasons. Mr Castorf's production was well described by Mr Rowe in Wagner News Issue 211. Distraction for large parts of the drama is typical of Regietheater . Here we have a specific character (played by Patric Seibert) in all four dramas to distract us, most notably with head bobbing in time to the hammer in the Schmiedelied in Siegfried. Further distraction was provided for much of the time by a screen onto which was projected characters in close-up, all very well for having a better impression of their feelings (eg Freia and Fricka panicking at the imminent arrival of the giants) until one realised that one had missed the concomitant vocal nuances and orchestral colouring. In other words it unbalanced the drama. Brünnhilde is supposed to be listening with rapt attention during Wotan's narration, but here she is opening and closing barn doors or filling up oil cans. I felt like shouting “For goodness sake keep still woman!” I wonder what my Strafe would have been. It seems that when a Regietheater producer runs out of ideas a default direction is for chairs to be thrown, here as also in that dreadful Bayreuth Tristan und Isolde production in 2012. Sex was very prominent in this production. After the titillation of Alberich by the Rhinemaidens in Scene 1 of Rheingold Wotan was lying on his motel bed being fellated alternately by Fricka and Freia, then spent non-singing time entering an adjacent room to satisfy the Rhinemaidens, had his way with Erda after her short scene ( “Weiche Wotan, weiche” indeed!), has a rest in Walküre , then gets fellated by Erda in Siegfried , where the hero also has sex with the Woodbird. She evidently finds this quite satisfying because at the end she approaches Siegfried for a re-run, clearly not having been terrified by seeing the Lord of the Ravens, only to be peremptorily seen off by Brünnhilde. Siegfried coitalises Gutrune in the standing position, then sings “Gunther, wie heisst deine Schwester?” This made me chortle. Why couldn't he ask her ? More sex in the third act. So, if you run out of ideas, more sex or throw some chairs about. To its credit the screen projections of the approaching giants in Scene 2 of Rheingold suggested terrible menace, but even this was inappropriate. Doesn't Fasolt sing “Kampf kiesten wir nicht” . Kirill Petrenko was an excellent conductor, unfailingly considerate to the singers, and he kept things moving. The cast were magnificent, above all Wolfgang Koch's clarion Heldenbariton as Wotan, John Daszak's incisive, but never overplayed Loge (he looked like a bald Gene Hackman), and Stefan Vinke's extra virile Siegfried, another voice with inexhaustible breath control and tireless stamina. I had been greatly impressed by Catherine Foster's Walküre Brünnhilde at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2012, and here she sang the complete role with a voice under steadier control than in the first cycle. I felt that the production inhibited her talent enormously, and that in the real thing she would be up there with Alwyn Mellor. However she still managed to pull mightily at my heartstrings in the Immolation. Botha and Kampe as the twins received enthusiastic applause, but for me there was no visceral excitement here; and why was Mr Botha considering an escape on a bicycle which would clearly have buckled under his weight? Thankfully for him, us and the drama he thought better of it. Andreas Hörl was a wonderfully sonorous Fafner.

–8– The very tall Stephen Milling was a very sinister Hagen. I wonder what the performers thought of it. Many will not be returning next year, including the conductor. Wotan will be shared by three singers previously unknown at Bayreuth. I only chanced to get tickets as a result of Andrea Buchanan's excellent webpage in April advising that seats were still available, and, hey presto, after a few clicks on my computer they were delivered. Ironic isn't it: now so easy to get tickets, but I'm not sure I want to return. DEFAULT CHAIRS An observation

Ken Sunshine

Robert Mitchell’s comment in the preceding item about default chairs reminded me of a Weimar Ring we saw in 2008 for which I wrote a report for Wagner News (perhaps #191 – one day there will be a WN index) containing this extract. “Siegfried’s innocent delight in finding Brünnhilde and her “ Heil dir, Sonne! ” piece were portrayed perfectly and we both felt that all they had to do was play it straight with no frills to the culminating embrace. But then Grane appeared with a long, long white sheet which became a bridal train – just about bearable until Grane started bringing in chairs, stage left, one by one, joined by a second Grane bringing in chairs stage right. This distraction, initially having one wondering how Grane got so rapidly around the back of the stage, continued until there were 50 chairs in place along what was now a table, covered by the white sheet. It was Ionesco’s ‘ The Chairs ’ all over again. Then a third Grane appeared, to be cradled by Brünnhilde, thus becoming the recipient of much of Brünnhilde’s verbal lovemaking to Siegfried. Finally we had 3 Granes trooping in and out until 50 plates, 50 wineglasses and 3 enormous table bouquets decorated the long table. Symbolism for a wedding gone mad. The saving grace was that Siegfried and Brünnhilde disappeared under the table to consummate their union and we were spared the sight of simulated coupling that we had previously suffered. Again a distinct silence before the applause. We seriously wondered about going home a day early but couldn’t bear the thought of missing the music and the singing.”

WAGNERTH ON DA YS Ken S unshine On Tuesday 5th January I shall offer my third Wagnerthon Day. It looks like this: 9:00 Breakfast: juice, cereal/porridge, croissant/toast, eggs, kedgeree, tea/coffee Brief introduction to Tannhäuser We shall watch a DVD of the Baden- 10:00 Act I 11:15 Coffee, cake and discussion Baden 2008 production. The previous days were both Die Meistersinger, 11:45 Act II 1:00 Lunch: eg quiche, soup, pasta NY Met. Most of the Wagner operas, including the 3 Ring operas, fit neatly 2:00 Act III 3:00 Tea, cake and discussion into this structure. 3:30 Home Why not give it a try? –9– THE RING WITH A VIEW OF SCHLOSS NEUSCHWANTEIN Sofia Opera, Füssen: 12 th to 17 th September 2015 Tim Cantor

Füssen is a small town in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. The Festspielhaus on the shore of the Forggensee has spectacular views across the lake to King Ludwig II’s Schloss Neuschwanstein. The house has an auditorium that seats 1,360 and a stage large enough to accommodate any opera. The Bulgarian orchestra and the singers were under the direction of German conductor Eric Wächter. The staging was imaginative without undermining the drama of the Ring although there seemed to be an obsession with cones. This production lost its way with the design of the performers’ costumes. Some were dressed as one would expect for a traditional Ring while others were dressed in a comical fashion. I began to wonder whether some of the costume designers had bothered to familiarise themselves with the story. Much of the action took place on or in the vicinity of ring-like structures. When combined with skilful lighting this created a credible setting for the drama. Das Rheingold got off to shaky start with the Rhinemaidens jumping around on a trampoline hidden from the audience’s view within a large ring. This did not work well. Biser Georgiev who played Alberich lacked vocal intensity at times. In Scene 2 Wotan (Martin Tsonev) sang adequately, but was dressed more like a wizard than a god with a cone projecting from one shoulder. Fricka, performed by Rumyana Petrova, was also dressed ridiculously with several cones projecting from her dress. Fasholt and Fafner, played by Alexander Nosikov and Georgi Kirof had costumes which made them look like giants. Loge (Daniel Ostretsov) had a good tenor voice, but his costume was the most outlandish of all with him looking like Elton John in the 1970s. He appeared on a surfboard suspended from above which gradually drifted across the stage. This made it

– 10 – difficult for him to fully engage in the drama that was happening on the floor. Donner, performed by Svetozar Rangelov was dressed like a court jester rather than a god. The final surprise at the end of Scene 4 was that, rather than seeing the gods retiring to their fortress of Valhalla, we got to see the Rhinemaidens cavorting about again. All in all Das Rheingold could have been a lot better if it had adhered more closely to the plot. Die Walküre got off to a better start. After the storm introducing Act I, Siegmund and Sieglinde played by Martin Illiev and Tsvetana Bandalovska seemed to have the necessary sexual chemistry to commit incest. They may have been helped in this by being conventionally attired with an abscence of gimmickry. This was only slightly spoilt by the appearance of Angel Hristov as Hunding. He had the necessary vocal intensity for the part, but I could not help being distracted by his appearance with antlers projecting from both shoulders. He looked like a genetic experiment that had gone horribly wrong. Yordanka Derilova as Brünnhilde looked, sang and acted the part brilliantly. As the cast sang about past events, the relevant characters slowly proceeded in partially blacked out form along a conveyor belt at the back of the stage. This served to reinforce rather than detract from the drama unfolding at the front of the stage. The Ride of the Valkyries is always a difficult scene to stage in a credible fashion. The Valkyries were mounted standing on white cones, rather like the nose cone of Concorde, supported by wheeled frames skilfully manoeuvred around the stage by blacked out stage hands. Initially I feared that this was yet more gimmickry, but in fact it worked, giving the audience the illusion that the Valkyries were airborne. Wotan’s farewell scene with Brünnhilde at the end was truly moving. Act I Scene 1 of Siegfried got off to a good start with Krasimir Dinev playing a very traditional Mime and Kostadin Andreev playing the young Siegfried. Scene 2 was another matter. We were treated to the ridiculous sight of Mime appropriately dressed in rags meeting Wotan in the guise of the Wanderer dressed as a clown. This version of the Wanderer completely lacked the mysterious nature of the character. Nikolay Petrov as the Wanderer made amends by at least by being a particularly powerful bass-baritone. Siegfried is in some ways the most difficult of the Ring Operas, not least because the Wagner who composed Acts I and II was different from the Wagner who composed Act III twelve years later. Nevertheless, apart from the inappropriately dressed Wanderer, this part of The Ring was sung, acted and directed competently, adhering fairly closely to a traditional Ring . In Act II the forest consisted of a metal lattice within which the cast could climb as necessary. The Woodbird played by Milena Gyurova appeared on a trapeze to sing her aria. Radostina Nikolaeva was a very different Brünnhilde from Yordanka Derilova, but nevertheless had sufficient vocal intensity for the part. The prologue of Götterdämmerung started with the Norns emerging with their ropes from what looked like a space capsule. Siegfried and Brünnhilde played by Martin Iliev and Yordanka Derilova sang a moving love duet. In Act I Gunter was dressed in a colourful costume, not quite as clownish as the Wanderer, while his sister Gutrune was soberly dressed for her part. This seemed ridiculous. Hagen was played outstandingly by Angel Hristov. He managed to portray Hagen as being simultaneously sinister and troubled. In Act II the metalwork lattice first seen in Siegfried reappeared. When not perfoming at the front of the stage, Alberich was often visible lurking in the shadows. This served to remind the audience that his malign influence was never very far away. After Hagen murdered Siegfried in Act III we were treated to a phenomenal performance of the bereaved and angered Brünnhilde by Yordanka Derilova, the best Brünnhilde I have ever seen. – 11 – WAGNER IN SÃO PAULO Theatro São Pedro, São Paulo, Brazil, 20 th September 2015 Matthew Evans Having the opportunity to experience Wagner in Brazils largest city is not an everyday occurrence, so this concert was very eagerly anticipated. The concert had the added bonus of the international soloists Scottish soprano Lee Bisset and American tenor Michael Hendrick. The Orquestra do Theatro São Paulo is specialised in opera. In recent years however, it has not attempted Wagner. It was great to see how well they rose to the challenge of music drama! The concert commenced with Elisabeth’s Dich, teure Halle from Act II of Tannhäuser . Lee Bisset sang charmingly. This was followed by the set piece In fernem Land from Lohengrin . Michael Hendrick caught well that sense of pride which Lohengrin has as he recounts his background as a knight of the Grail, but mixed with profound regret and disappointment. So far so good. We were then treated to the love duet from Tristan (from O sink hernieder ). In the first section as the music floats dreamily between the two lovers one had a sense of soloists and orchestra feeling their way into the music (not surprisingly, given that the piece was somewhat launched in medias res ). It was with Brangäne’s section that the rhythm and tempo started to come together and the music gained a momentum from which we did not look back. Brangäne was sung nicely by the Brazilian mezzo Andréia Souza (the other soloist of the evening was Erick Costa who made a very brief appearance as Klingsor at the end of the Parsifal piece). Her warning energised the whole piece. From then on, Luiz Fernando Malheiro urged the orchestra on towards the thrilling climax which delivered fully on the extraordinary emotional power of the piece. Adapted for concert performance, the piece ended by moving into the final Liebestod music, avoiding Kurwenals interruption at the end. After the interval we had the overture from Die Meistersinger . Luiz Fernando Malheiro marshalled his forces in a rendition which was lively but did not neglect the elements of stateliness and civic pride inherent in this introduction to the guild of the Mastersingers. Each of the instrumentalists in the orchestra took their short solos well. Luiz Fernando Malheiro is an experienced opera conductor; indeed, he conducted the first performance of The Ring in Brazil. The final piece was billed as the Kundry-Parsifal duet from Parsifal . In fact we were treated to a substantial part of Parsifal Act II (from Parsifal! Weile! to the end of the Act). Whilst we had a little “semi-staging” in the Tristan , the soloists entered fully into their characters in this final piece and used the stage to good effect. Particularly effective was that, for most of the section before Kundry’s kiss, Parsifal stood on a step below the main stage level. This emphasised Kundry’s apparent dominance over him at this point and also meant that she was singing slightly behind him, again emphasising her manipulation and control of his emotions. Lee Bisset’s ability to move so rapidly from the supernaturally heightened emotion of Isolde to the subtle complexities of Kundry’s malevolence and guilt was very impressive. When at its most expressive, Michael Hendrick’s voice took on a searing, agonised quality, and the “post kiss” section of the Parsifal was where he really shone. His anguished cry of Amfortas! was particularly gut-wrenching. More than ably supported by Luiz Fernando and the orchestra, both soloists acted well and gave a thrilling performance to end a memorable evening.

– 12 – “THEY SING CHORUSES IN PUBLIC” * Parsifal Act III: The Rehearsal Orchestra and The Mastersingers Henry Wood Hall, 18 th October 2015 Katie Barnes Photo: Richard Carter This year The Rehearsal Orchestra's Wagner weekend with The Mastersingers continued the intense focus on Parsifal Act III which had begun in September with the Music Club's event: Time Becomes Space . I find it impossible to emphasise enough how valuable these annual events are in training the next generation of Wagnerian singers and giving them the priceless opportunity to work with an orchestra and a top conductor. The players have the chance to learn and play music which, in all probability, few if any of them have played before, and to receive first class coaching. There is always a perpetual sense of enthusiasm, discovery and renewal, and the freshness of the players' response to the music, quite different from that of a seasoned professional orchestra, is captivating. Watching an elderly violinist and a young one sharing a desk, discussing their parts and comparing notes, I had a sense of knowledge and skills being passed on from one generation to the next. David Syrus must be one of the finest orchestral coaches in the country, and he guided this largely amateur outfit with as much skill and dedication as if they were a world-ranking ensemble, bringing the best out of each player, giving especial attention to “my cellos”, as he affectionately called them. He insisted upon accuracy of rhythm and a good balance of sound – not always easy, in the warm but very open acoustic of the Henry Wood Hall – and in ensuring that the orchestra would complement the soloists rather than competing with them, stressing the need for the players to observe Wagner's piano markings. At the start of the prelude the violins, underpinned by the mournful cellos and double basses, conveyed the urgency of Parsifal's striving, which was briefly resolved by the hard-won crescendo of the Amen chord before dying away into chaos. The distortion of the Flowermaidens' motif as Kundry is first heard groaning, sounded like a sick parody and the cellos emphasised Gurnemanz's struggle to revive her. I loved the soft, hesitant, delicate strings as Parsifal approached the spring, their breadth at “Heil dir, mein Gast!” and the feeling of desolate weariness in the orchestral sound as he disarmed, which grew huge as he knelt before the Spear and shared Gurnemanz's rapture as he recognised it. The woodwind were so beautifully plaintive at “Kein Fleh'n” , at Parsifal's collapse following “Der Rettung letzter Pfad mir schwindet” and at "gelobt' Amfortas uns", resolving into exquisite, caressing strings, with the cellos underpinning “Die heil'ge Quell” , and a grand, expansive oboe bubbled beneath which suddenly spoke out as Kundry dried Parsifal's feet. The orchestra was so soft and gentle as she wept. The bells were beautifully mellow, and in the funeral march the brass roared with strident rage and grief, culminating in a huge crescendo at “zum letzten Mal” and an apocalyptic howl as Titurel's corpse was revealed. The finale was simply wonderful: it felt as though the music were layering itself, with rapture piling upon rapture as we approached the serenity of the ending. *(WS Gilbert: Ruddigore Act 1)

– 13 – The weekend benefited from the intensive coaching which the three outstanding soloists and their understudies had received from Sir John Tomlinson during the Music Club event. James Platt , the Gurnemanz, had clearly benefited from Sir John's tuition, and I could hear how the great man's advice informed his vocal and dramatic portrayal. His voice is simply magnificent, and his vocal attack was cleaner and more direct than it had been at the masterclass. He made the character more benevolent than is often the case. “Erwache dem Lenz!” sounded almost angry, but there was a sense of kindly, tolerant, Sachs-like amusement at “Du tolles Weib!” and “Ja! Woher kommst du denn?” before he became more severe as Parsifal failed to respond. I missed the embarrassment which Sir John suggested that Gurnemanz should feel at “Der ist's, der einst den Schwan erlegt” , but the solemnity at “O Wunder!” and the gentleness of “Nicht so!” were wonderful. He sang the blessing most beautifully, and more experience in the role will add greater gravitas and majesty. The way that mighty voice filled out at “will sein Gebet” and “heut ihren Unschuldstag erwirbt” fairly took my breath away. What potential this young singer has. Mark Le Brocq was, again, a superb Parsifal, and his portrayal brought out the huge range of emotions the character experiences during this Act, from the immense dignity of “Heil mir” , the tremendous passion and urgency of “Zu ihm, des’ tiefe Klagen” and the intense recrimination of “Und ich” , all of which he achieved without sacrificing one whit of his great beauty of tone, through the tenderness of “Du wuschest mir die Füsse” and Kundry's baptism and the wonder of the Good Friday scene, in which he seemed to be singing an enraptured duet with the oboe and strings and floated “du weinest – sieh” most beautifully, to the lovely, strong, pure sound of “Nur eine Waffe taugt” , where he sounded like a silver trumpet.

– 14 – Stuart Pendred was, as he always is, superlative, and made me wish that Wagner had given Amfortas more to sing in Act III, but what a universe of pain and despair he packed into his two solos. This is fast becoming a voice of Wotanesque proportions, and at “O! der du jetzt in göttlichem Glanz” he sounded as though he were about to launch into the Abschied . The quiet, intense longing of “Tod! – Sterben” was deeply moving, and his howl of “Nein!” was terrifying. But the element which made this Rehearsal Orchestra day different from all its predecessors was the introduction, for the first time, of the Mastersingers Chorale. They were few in number: nine women and twelve men, who included our Editor, the understudies for Parsifal and Gurnemanz, Brian Smith Walters and Donald Thomson, and no less a personage than Anthony Negus (seen here on the left) but the value of their contribution was incalculable. The impact of their slow, stately procession through the audience to the platform during the searing funeral march, with chorus master Kelvin Lim at their head, was immense. The men sounded almost out of control as they mourned Amfortas, and although the women stood beside them, by some alchemy of the Hall's acoustics their voices seemed to come from some distant place and hover in the air.

It may have been a small chorus, and its introduction may seem like a small step, but the possibilities for the future expansion of Mastersingers and Rehearsal Orchestra events are simply huge. Today Parsifal Act III, tomorrow Götterdämmerung Act II, Die Meistersinger Act III, Lohengrin ...? We must wait and see, in my case with barely concealed impatience.

– 15 – DAS LIEBESVERBOT Chelsea Opera Group, Cadogan Hall, 25 th October 2015 Katie Barnes Let me start with an admission. This was the very first time I had ever heard Das Liebesverbot . Given the bad press it has garnered over the years, (not least from its composer, who disowned it following its disastrous opening), I didn't know what to expect. Having heard it, I would describe it as the Wagner opera which sounds least like Wagner. Die Feen and Rienzi both hint more strongly at how his style would develop, perhaps because of their Romantic-heroic subject matter and the fact that they were inspired by German-born composers. The influence of Weber and Marschner is strong in the former, and the latter has been jokingly dubbed "the best opera Meyerbeer never wrote". But between them, quite unexpectedly, Wagner went Italian with this very free adaptation of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure which transforms a dark, troubling play set in Vienna, hard by Friedrich's cold Germany, into a heady, intoxicating, uneven homage to the southern warmth of Sicily. The opera appears to go against everything which Wagner later stood for. Written during his years in Magdeburg when he was still following the established forms he would soon sweep away, it gives us the unusual spectacle of a Wagner opera replete with recitatives, arias with cabalettas, and large-scale, four-square ensembles typical of the composers he conducted at that time, including Bellini, Rossini and Auber, and it represents his only attempt to replicate their southern fire and snap. Hearing them out of context, one would never guess that he had written the sparking Sicilian dance which opens the overture and reappears in the rip-roaring Carnival finale, the teasing, bubbling trio for Isabella, Dorella and Luzio, or Dorella's pert baiting of Brighella. There are signs that Wagner was still learning his craft. The orchestration is too dense and heavy – no wonder Magdeburg's singers objected to it – and he had not yet learned how to pace the drama. Nearly all the major arias are in the last two acts, where they delay the action just as it should be speeding towards the denouement, and Friedrich's crucial first entrance, in the middle of a hectic concerted number, is too low- key. How much better Puccini was to handle a similar situation when introducing Scarpia. With the benefit of hindsight it is exciting to know how soon Wagner would burst free of the strait-jacket of the existing structures of opera, and when his own voice does break through it's thrilling. Even in such an atypical work, one can detect foreshadowings of his future greatness. The glittering castanets and tambourine from the Sicilian dance foreshadow the Venusberg, as do the swirling, passionate strings which engulf Friedrich as he contemplates his tryst with Isabella (and which, incidentally, also anticipate the prelude of Der Rosenkavalier and the Act III prelude of Arabella ). Isabella's furious summoning of the crowd in the Act II finale anticipates Brünnhilde in Act II of Götterdämmerung . Most breathtakingly of all, the serene motif of the peaceful convent which opens Scene 2 would transfer to Tannhäuser , where it opens Act III as the motif of the hero's pilgrimage to Rome, and the same scene includes a soprano duet of beguling, proto-Straussian delicacy. Like Beethoven before him, Wagner was writing without regard to singers' capabilities. In particular, Isabella's extremely demanding music must surely have been inspired by Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, whom he first saw while working in Magdeburg, and whose Leonore influenced him so greatly. It is surely no accident that – 16 – Isabella twice describes Friedrich as “abscheulicher” (repulsive). Like Leonore, Isabella has to turn on a musical sixpence from delicate, enchanting lyricism to full-blown heldensopran status, and she is one of Wagner's most resourceful heroines. The buffo baritone Brighella looks back to Gunther in Die Feen (just as the soubrette Dorella is closely related to Drolla), but also looks forward to Beckmesser's box-ticking, fault- marking pedantry. Friedrich, the most intriguing character in the piece, begins as an apparently straightforward villain, but as he comes near to achieving his goal he becomes as vulnerable and conflicted as Telramund. No praise can be too high for Anthony Negus, the genius of the evening, who cut and shaped an unwieldy score into a performing edition of acceptable length, mainly by trimming ensembles, reducing recitatives to short spoken interludes and removing the extended orchestral conclusion. He inspired Chelsea Opera Group's players, chorus and principals into making the strongest possible case for the opera. The orchestra played nobly for him and responded to all Wagner's unrealistic demands. The southern glow of the music shone through, and the Carnival scene crackled like a blaze. The chorus, obliged to project through dense waves of orchestral sound, threw themselves into the piece with as much verve as if it were a mature Wagnerian masterwork. The principals had evidently been encouraged to act their roles as much as they could while working from scores, and it made the piece so much more involving than a conventional concert performance. 2011 Bayreuth Bursary winner Helena Dix was the undoubted star of the show, rising to all the considerable challenges of Isabella's music and making the most of the character's mercurial changes of mood. She sounded simply fabulous, whether duetting serenely with Mariana, denouncing Friedrich like a latterday Brünnhilde, or joining forces with Dorella to make the hapless Luzio squirm. The sheer glee she radiated as she controlled the plot was infectious. Kirstin Sharpin, the runner-up in last year's Wagner Society Singing Competition, added to her growing reputation with a beautifully poised performance of the secondary role of Mariana, especially in her brief, lovely aria, an exquisite moment of repose amid the frenzied comings and goings of the final act. I wished that her role could have been longer. Elizabeth Cragg gave Dorella wit, acerbity and a delicious light soprano. David Soar's luxurious black, velvety bass sounded almost too beautiful for Friedrich, and he traced the character's development well, from the uncompromising, moralistic tyrant to the oddly vulnerable man racked by passion and doubt. Peter Hoare, in splendid vocal form, made much of little with Claudio, a somewhat underwritten role. Paul Curievici fared less well in Luzio's cruelly taxing, quicksilver virtuoso music, pushing his elegant voice so much that it turned hard and top notes went awry, but he recovered form for his dazzling carnival aria, Ihr junges Volk . Surely Wagner never again wrote anything requiring such extreme vocal flexibility. His comic acting, especially in the scenes with Isabella and Dorella, was a delight. Julian Hubbard made the most of his opportunities as Pontio Pilato, the "comic servant" tenor (shades of Mime?). Nicholas Folwell, a veteran Alberich and Beckmesser, had a great time as the officious watchman Brighella, and his German was crystal clear. William Morgan, Toby Girling and Piran Legg did well in their lesser roles. Negus and his forces amply proved that, while Wagner's second opera is no masterpiece, it by no means deserves the neglect it has suffered. It is due for a reappraisal. The Guardian critic mentioned an unconfirmed rumour that the Royal Opera may be planning a staging. We must hope that it is true. – 17 – WAGNER SOCIETY SINGING COMPETITION 2015 Duke’s Hall, Royal Academy of Music, 22 nd November Katie Barnes After two years in the chamber venue of the David Josefowitz Hall, it was good to see the Singing Competition back in the magnificent surroundings of the Duke's Hall for the first time since 2008, and to see such a large, enthusiastic audience, which included a number of distinguished Wagnerians, including Dame Anne Evans, Susan Bullock, Richard Berkeley-Steele, Graham Clark, and, of course, our President. Another great operatic Dame, Josephine Barstow, presided over the panel of judges, which also included (left to right) Mark Wigglesworth, Scott Carlton and Isabel Murphy.

Daryl Lucas Marie Elizabeth Seager launched the proceedings with Elisabeth's Allmächt'ge Jungfrau . She drew us instantly into the character's grief and despair, but initially the voice sounded slightly uneasy, probably due to nerves. As the aria progressed, her voice warmed to its task, culminating in a glorious G on reichste which made me tingle, and the ending was superb. In Schläft's du, Gast? she transformed before our eyes from grieving princess to a resolute, passionate demi-goddess. The voice became deeper and richer as Sieglinde relived the misery of her wedding day, the thrill of the disguised Wotan's arrival and his leaving the sword in the tree, her contempt for the guests who could not draw it forth, and her ecstasy at realising that Siegmund will win it. There is work to do, but this could become a genuine Wagnerian dramatic soprano. Richard Carter

– 18 – Erika Mädi Jones continued Sieglinde's story with Du bist der Lenz , but the voice sounded smaller and breathier than Seager's and she had a tendency to swallow consonants. She sounded more at ease in the Wesendock Lied Der Engel , but in Elisabeth's Dich, teure Halle she again sounded as though the voice was punching above its weight.

Richard Carter It would be a big ask for even an experienced singer to sing three of Wagner's biggest tenor arias in succession, but Gareth Dafydd Morris took on the challenge and won. He is clearly a force to be reckoned with. The colour, beauty and sheer size of his voice are simply amazing. There is still work to be done, especially on his breath control and his Welsh-accented German pronounciation, but his potential is massive. Coincidentally, he, too, started in Die Walkure Act I, with Winterstürme , before moving from Siegmund's almost baritonal tessitura to the stratosphere of Lohengrin's In fernem Land . It might have been better to end his ambitious programme there, as he already had the audience in the palm of his hand, and the voice sounded a little tired in his third piece, Walther's Morgenlich leuchtend . He might have achieved even more by trying a bit less hard. There was a huge buzz in the auditorium after he finished his set.

Richard Carter

– 19 – Katie Stevenson was the youngest competitor at 24, but she was the most 'finished' of all of them. She sang both Weiche, Wotan! Weiche! and Höre mit Sinn in a glorious, mellow, unforced contralto, with excellent German diction. She kept gestures to a minimum, letting the words and music tell the story, conveying emotion through her huge eyes and her facial expressions, contrasting Erda's implacable warning with Waltraute's terrified vulnerability. She is a natural communicator.

Richard Carter

Tanya Hurst displayed her strong voice to good effect in a varied programme which ranged from Elsa's Einsam in trüben Tagen, via Der Engel to Du bist der Lenz , but her wide vibrato suggested to me that she may be pushing her voice too much. Richard Carter Dame Josephine presented the prizes for the Singing Competition, paying tribute to the “generosity and talent” she had witnessed. “As artists, we have the ability to change peoples' lives.” The Audience Prize went to Katie Stevenson, who, along with Gareth Dafydd Morris, was also chosen for the President's Award of a masterclass, to take place at the Royal Overseas League on 19 th May 2016. The President invited the other finalists to attend to hear what she has to say about vocal technique, languages, diction and “how you inspire an audience”, and gave us the welcome news that the Royal Overseas League are providing the hall free of charge and want her to make the masterclass an annual event. Dame Josephine said that the judges' decision over the winners of the Singing Competition had been “quite a struggle” because they had thoroughly enjoyed everyone's contributions. Nonetheless, there had been “a certain amount of unanimity” in their decision. Gareth Dafydd Morris was chosen as runner-up, and the winner, to her obvious astonishment, was Katie Stevenson. Observing that “just to get to this Final is an amazing achievement”, Dame Josephine also made small presentations to the other three finalists. Andrea Buchanan closed the proceedings by thanking everyone who had made the day possible. What an amazing, inspiring occasion this was. Long may the Society continue to help and inspire the Wagnerian artists of the next generation.

– 20 – CAROLE REES AWARDS 2015 Duke’s Hall, Royal Academy of Music, 22 nd November Katie Barnes

Richard Carter The Winners of the 2015 Carole Rees Awards for Advanced Musical Studies, Paul Carey Jones and Lee Bissett performed Act III, Scene 3 of Die Walküre in a new production, specially created for this occasion by David Edwards and sponsored by Roger Lee. 2014 Winner Stuart Pendred opened by paying tribute to the importance of the Award to his career and thanking both Roger and “the force of nature that is Malcolm Rivers. I thank God every day for Malcolm Rivers!” He recalled how he first met Roger and Carole in 2010 and was invited by them to the Mastersingers weekend in Presteigne, where Neil Howlett coached him in one of Wotan's arias, which led to a masterclass with Sir John Tomlinson. That weekend proved to be the beginning of “a precious friendship” with Roger, Carole and Sir John. When he began his singing career, he was too old for bursaries and scholarships, so the Award was invaluable to him, and the slate plaque in his music room reminds him that he is “backed”. It was a great joy to all of us that Roger was well enough to be present and to give a short speech in which he told us that he could think of no better way of keeping the spirit of Carole with us than to inaugurate an award for professional singers moving into the Wagnerian repertoire. The lights darkened and the performance began. Having seen Edwards' production of this scene for Secret Opera only a week previously, it was highly interesting to see his completely different interpretation here. Like many of his productions for Mastersingers it was very hard-hitting, set on a Valkyrie rock which, the programme note told us, was – 21 – “a dangerous, toxic wasteland” strewn with the bodies of the slain and covered with neat stacks of translucent boxes, each neatly labelled with a name and number, and filled with flickering tea lights. The implication was that each box contained either the contaminated remains of a hero, or was their memorial. During the musical introduction figures in white safety suits piled up the boxes, carried them to the rear of the stage, and sat with them while the agonised Wotan sat grieving over the body of Siegmund, who lay at centre stage, and Brünnhilde sat at a distance. This was an intimate, deeply moving interpretation of this great duet in which a daughter and her father, gods as fallibly human as any of us, fought their way through their tangled relationship to a heartrending resolution. Rarely have I seen a Brünnhilde so desperate to reconcile with Wotan, not simply to avoid exile from Valhalla but because she could not bear to be at odds with her beloved father, while his emotions were hopelessly clouded by his grief for Siegmund. We felt their pain as he took out his rage and despair on her. Interestingly, it took longer than usual for her to penetrate his grief and enable him to look to the future – Und das ich ihm in Stücken schlug! , which in some productions is the moment when he realises that Siegfried will awaken Brünnhilde, here became the climax of his despair as he collapsed like a felled oak.

Daryl Lucas The moment which made me well up came at the start of the Abschied , as Brünnhilde sat in a chair, her back to him, not yet knowing whether he would grant her request, and held out one hand to him without looking at him. Then, at last, he came to her, gripped her hand, and pulled her into an embrace so intense that it almost annihilated her. Yet later in the scene, it was she who comforted him, like a mother forgiving her wayward child. – 22 – Edwards' treatment of the Magic Fire was typically economical and resourceful.Two of the attendants drew a rope of flashing red lights across the front of the stage and placed large spot lamps around Brünnhilde, and the tea lights in the illuminated boxes twinkled like a hundred tiny stars. As the stage lights dimmed and the spot lamps cast their beams upon Wotan, they cast his massive shadow onto the walls and roof of the hall. The god towered like a giant. It was thrilling.

Daryl Lucas None of this would have worked without the supremely sensitive acting of the two singers. Lee Bisset was, quite simply, heartbreaking, and her singing was glorious. Paul Carey Jones improves every time I see him. His magnificent ebony baritone filled the hall, yet he could fine it down to a breathtaking pianissimo for Der Augen leuchtendes Paar . His use of the text was exemplary, and his intense exploration of the tragic god's predicament was deeply moving. There could have been no better illustration of the value of the Carole Rees Awards than this magnificent demonstration of how these two outstanding artists have honed their talents, Carey Jones by using his Award to study with Sir John Tomlinson and Bisset by using hers to study with Dame Anne Evans. As ever, Kelvin Lim had accompanied the whole day and still sounded as fresh as when he started, and his playing was so brilliant that I simply didn't notice that we hadn't had an orchestra. Following the performance, Roger gave a speech in which he admitted that he had been in tears. He wasn't the only one. He thanked the Mastersingers' actors, with a special mention of Ian Wilson-Pope, who had gallantly lain motionless all through the performance, David Edwards, “an opera director who understands music”, Kelvin Lim, “one of the most talented and hardest-working accompanists and voice coaches in the business”, Malcolm Rivers, “the one carrying it all on his back”, and last but by no means least his two singers, saying how proud Carole would be to have her name associated with Bisset's very special performance as Brünnhilde and noting that we were in the presence of two great Wotans of the future: Paul Carey Jones and Stuart Pendred. The President presented the Awards, handsomely framed in heavy Welsh slate. She was generous in her praise for Roger's wonderful work on Wagner News and for the “super, super, super performance”, expressing pleasure that so many of her colleagues were present who have so much experience in opera. “It is our duty to pass that on.” – 23 – WOTAN: TRULY A LIFETIME’S WORK Paul Carey Jones

Daryl Lucas In terms of my personal Wagnerian journey, if 2014 was a year spent with Das Rheingold , these past 12 months have unquestionably been The Year of The Valkyrie. That had always been in my long-term planning, and so when Malcolm Rivers dropped me a line early in January with the great news that I would have the backing of the Carole Rees Award for my studies, I knew exactly where to suggest the funds would be best invested. There’s nothing like working to a deadline to sharpen the focus, and that deadline was provided when I met up with the conductor Peter Selwyn the following month to investigate the possibility of a concert performance of Die Walküre with Berwick Festival Opera later in the year. I didn’t take much persuading. Every spare moment of the ensuing six months would therefore be filled with tackling the proverbial bite-size chunks of this elephantine task. After preliminary note-bashing, the first steps involved working through the role with the ever-invaluable Kelvin Lim, who was patient and insightful as always. We’d already studied some large sections of the piece a couple of years previously, but it was good to return to the task and begin to get a feel not just for the fine details of the most challenging parts, but for the overall sweep of the role too. When David Edwards asked whether I might be free to contribute an excerpt to his Wagner Society talk in April, I took a deep breath and offered Wotan’s monologue from Act II Scene 3. You might think that the biggest challenge involved would be the high- lying phrases in Act III where Wotan gives full vent to his anger at Brünnhilde and her sisters, or the final Farewell and its enormous emotional arc. Both of those sections do indeed present huge mountains to climb. But it was the Act II monologue which had always been central to my decision to study Wotan in the first place. The unique nature of its initial tessitura, snaking around a bottom G which is terra incognita to any young lyric baritone, was something which I mulled over and worked at extensively from a technical point of view for several months before I finally decided to take the plunge. Having begun to find the key to the scene vocally, there was also the monumental task not only of memorising such a huge excerpt of music and text, but of making sense of it, and finding the light and shade which is crucial to a successful interpretation of the role. – 24 – David was good enough to give me the chance to have a crack at it in public, and I knew that having the experience of proving to myself that I was mentally capable of retaining and relaying that amount of text in front of an audience was a huge step towards believing that this could be done. Next followed input from German language coach Jacqueline Pischorn – a four hour session is what it takes to work through the whole role (in case you were wondering) – and some musical input from the incomparable Anthony Negus. That brings us to August, and three priceless days in the chorus rehearsal room at the Royal Opera House with Sir John Tomlinson. As always, his insight and industry brought new detail and understanding to the task ahead. We worked in depth on a few well-chosen scenes, and John’s knowledge of every nook and cranny brought out new features everywhere: advice on technique, observations on the text and sub-text of The Ring , tips on posture and on pacing oneself through the vocal and physical marathon of rehearsals and performances. It was all incredibly valuable input, and going into battle knowing that such support is behind you is an emboldening feeling. In preparation for the Berwick Walküre we were blessed with three days of music rehearsals which gave an opportunity for a full run at the role with enough recovery time afterwards. The harsh realities of the current financial state of our art form mean that more often than not rehearsals and performances come piled on top of each other and squeezed into too small a period of time, which in fairness was the case to some extent once we headed north, so it was good to have put in some hard yards before arriving, and meant that there was some room for pacing oneself during the later rehearsals. There are no words to do full justice to the feeling of stepping out onto a stage for your first entry as Wotan, nor the feeling at the point when you truly begin to sense yourself getting into your stride. At the same time it’s crucial not to get carried away, and with the power of the music swelling underneath you, almost impossible to resist it at some point. As Sir John puts it, “Always keep an objective eye to guard against any over- indulgence, or recklessness. The character lives through all sorts of emotional extremes but there has to be a steely control at work, which the audience should not be aware of. Otherwise it falls apart.” It’s easier said than done! The dramatic and emotional power of the music is like nothing else ever written, and to keep one’s head in the face of that torrent of emotion is no mean feat. As the boxer Mike Tyson put it, everyone thinks he has a plan until he gets punched in the face. On this, my first time through, I think I just about managed not to fall apart. It very much felt like I pulled the car up onto the drive with the last drop of petrol in the tank, but what a ride. As I spend more and more time with Wotan and The Ring in general, one aspect that constantly develops and deepens is my appreciation of its detail and intimacy. On first meeting The Ring , it’s the scale and profundity of the subject matter that hits you. But its true wonder lies in the humanity of each character and every dramatic situation, and for the performer it pays dividends to remind yourself that, however epic and mythical the context might seem, these are real, human characters shedding genuine blood, sweat and tears. The exploration of every tiny detail of the text and music truly is a lifetime’s work. As my thoughts and plans wander on to the next steps, I am indebted to the backing of the Carole Rees Award, to the hard work and loyalty of Roger Lee and Malcolm Rivers, and to all at the Wagner Society for their continued interest and support. I look forward to sharing the further stages of this incredible journey with you all.

– 25 – “STUART PENDRED DOESN’T JUST SING. IT’S AS IF HIS SOUL IS IN CHARGE.” Roger Lee

Matthew Williams-Ellis for Longborough Festival Opera I asked Mastersingers-backed baritone Stuart Pendred to what extent he felt that he owed his spectacularly successful rise as an opera singer over the last five years to his previous training as an actor. “I am an actor. I am an actor who sings. I always have, and always will consider myself an actor. An actor who now sings opera. I know that sounds obvious, but there are many people I have worked with who simply are not natural stage animals, irrespective of their vocal abilities. I always start my creative journey with any role by looking to find the ‘core truth’ of a character first before I even begin to look at the vocal journey which will express that. I don’t care whether there are fourteen top Gs or bottom Zs! It is a complete creative journey: body, soul, physical, emotional and vocal. “Where Wagner is concerned, aside from the quite extraordinary music that he composed, I also think he created the most rounded characters for actors. His works could be staged as plays without the music and still stand tall dramatically. But his actors just happen to have to be able to sing bloody well!” Pendred is not one for reading (or certainly for taking seriously) any reviews, either good or bad, but he was once involved in a production featuring the music of Jacques Brel. The reviewer for Time Out wrote at the time: “Stuart Pendred doesn’t just sing; it’s as if his soul is in charge”. Faced with this description of his craft he replied: “For people who see and hear me sing, that would be just about the perfect response for me to achieve, to so much ‘own’ a character that it actually owns me and is simply reflected in my entire performance: body, soul, spirit and voice.” I wanted to know whether he was aware of a certain part of his voice which may be described as its “core resonance”. If so, had he found it to be something which is subject to change with time or in response to any particular influences? “The short answer to that question is yes. However, what is interesting for me is that I always heard/knew that the absolute core of my voice was actually higher than the roles that I found myself singing at the start of my career. I always heard/felt baritone rather than bass. I simply didn’t have the technique that would enable me correctly to access that part of my voice and develop it and make it a secure instrument. “Most people are probably now aware that the beginnings of my career saw me singing bass roles, the most obvious being Hagen at Longborough. What was fascinating

– 26 – after the Ring Cycle performances was that Janice Chapman (who was coaching Jonny Stoughton) got word to me that she would be prepared to work with me and felt that there were fundamental changes that needed to be looked at in terms of my basic technique and she was of the opinion that I was actually a dramatic baritone waiting to happen! I have subsequently enjoyed a wonderful, tough, rewarding, exacting and exciting journey with Janice slowly helping that baritone to reveal itself. “I have been incredibly blessed to have had access to some of the best coaches and conductors in the country since I made my first steps into the world of opera. I have had not only the ongoing support of the Wagner Society and Malcolm Rivers and his incredible Mastersingers programme, but I have also been able to coach, study and perform in masterclasses with Sir John Tomlinson, David Syrus, David Edwards, Anthony Negus, Anthony Roden, Julian Gavin, Raymond Connell and, most significantly for me, I have continued to enjoy the support, coaching and indeed friendships from two people who I would say have had the most consistent impact on my voice: Janice Chapman and Phillip Thomas. When you go to a coaching with Phillip and you’re followed into the room by Susan Bullock, you know that you’re in the right place! Both of these people are not publicly appreciated nearly as much as their talent deserves. They have quite literally changed me as an artist and as a result, a person. Or maybe vice versa.” I would expect someone who has achieved as much as Stuart has in so short a time to possess a single-minded streak running through him. What if I were to replace “single- minded” with the term “stubbornness”? “Ask my wife! There is a bit of me that ‘enjoys’ (not quite the right word) it when someone says to me ‘No’ or ‘You can’t’ or ‘It’s not possible’ or, if I maybe quote Sir John Tomlinson after the first time he heard me sing in 2010 following a hastily arranged private session with him at the Mastersingers Goodall Academy event at Presteigne when, after asking about my age, he said: ‘You’ve left it a bit late, haven’t you!’ “It really is a matter of how much you want something and also the belief that what you are doing is what you should be doing. I took a long time finally to find where my voice fitted, but the most important thing is that I did. The length of my career will be what it will be and, as I replied to Sir John’s comment, ‘I don’t want your career; I can’t have your career. I can only want and have my own career, however long that lasts. I simply want to be the best that I, Stuart Pendred, can be.” I quoted Evelyn Glennie saying that learning a new piece takes time to seep through the cells of one’s body. How quick or slow a process does learning and getting “inside” roles represent? “It can be both, but I couldn’t agree more with Evelyn Glennie’s observation. I remember reading a quotation from Dame Anne Evans that she felt that to truly know a role such as Brünnhilde took three years. I think each role, for me, has been very different, to be honest. There is a basic structure/process to the way in which I start to learn a new role, but the speed with which each part of that process happens and indeed overlaps with the initial steps and those that follow varies on each occasion. “I am reminded of the quotation made by Eric Liddell in my favourite film Chariots of Fire : “When I run, I feel His pleasure.” I almost can’t put into words what it feels like when I am fully engaged in a performance. It’s as if every fibre of my being resonates with the rest of the universe. I am free, fully alive and being who I should be. I work for those rare moments of clarity.” Roger Lee is Mastersingers Director of Education

– 27 – Wagner symposium GESAMTKUNSTWERK OR NOT? Concert Performances and Wagner’s “Theatre of the imagination” Musician and broadcaster Heath Lees joins the discussion Recently I wrote a review of a couple of southern hemisphere concert performances of Wagner, and included a preface with a number of racy thoughts on concert performances generally. The review appeared in the August 2015 issue of Wagner Notes , a bimonthly publication of the Wagner Society of New York, and the first four paragraphs below are used here by permission. “Concert performances of Wagner used to be frowned upon as no substitute for the “real thing” in the opera-house. Donald Francis Tovey’s meaty description of “bleeding chunks” tended to put people off. But Tovey was writing in the 1930s, well before the invention of surtitles that progressively chart out the story. In addition, Tovey had no knowledge of the mountains of CDs and DVDs that can make today’s concert audiences fully paid-up experts in both story and music. Consequently, concert performances of Wagner are being frequently enjoyed today in halls and arenas all over the world. “What would Wagner have made of this? My guess is that he would have been into it, boots and all. He regularly conducted selections from his own works in concert surroundings and even wrote a Forest Murmurs arrangement for that purpose. His 1860 concerts in Paris consisted entirely of excerpts from his own music: bleeding chunks yes, but stylishly prepared for the French taste and served with gusto by the master chef on the podium. “Of course the purists point out that, rather than putting the orchestra on display, Wagner actually sank it into the Bayreuth pit, and covered it with a cowl. But part of the reason for that was so that the singers (and the text) could be clearly heard, with orchestra and vocalist merging into one unified focus of sound. Today’s concert performances actually go one better: they put the singers right out in front, where their voices can soar out towards the audience, borne aloft on wings of orchestral song. “Another objection is that Wagner wanted the invisible orchestra to project a shroud of magic: the “rich soil of infinite universal feeling” as he called it. But you could argue that present-day concert performances, far from overturning Wagner’s intention, actually exceed it, since they freely exchange the internal thrill of secret sound-mixtures for the external but equally thrilling view of a modern orchestra in spectacular action. The rich soil is richer still.” So here I am today, re-reading these comments as part of a contribution to this symposium, and I don’t think I want to change anything. Maybe I could just re-emphasise that Wagner’s world and our world are (forgive the joke!) worlds apart. To speak only of The Ring , Wagner depended on the stage-picture to present a story that his audience didn’t yet know, the sung text being often unclear, despite the notorious “Bayreuth bark”. His stage movement was limited, though he paid lip-service to the Greek ideal of dance by calling his assistant Fricke a “choreographer”. When the first Ring closed, the minimal costumes had already begun to seem dated, and the lighting unimaginative. Wagner’s early, quasi-political ideal of Gesamtkunstwerk had refined down to the matter of text and music, plus accompanying stage-picture.

– 28 – Nowadays, concert performances present the music and the drama together in a way that I welcome. They are not just what might be called “deeds of orchestra” since singers and text are integral. I sometimes think of them in early-Wagner imagery as the presentation of an orchestral “sea of harmony” over which the poet is being carried in the musician’s boat. Then sometimes I think of them in late-Wagner imagery, as the closest we’ll ever get to his final, rueful ideal of a “theatre of the imagination” in everyone’s head.

Do I like concert performances? In principle, yes. Do I think they are preferable to theatrical presentations? No, not in principle. It depends on how good each is. But I am sure that both types of presentation now inhabit what we might call a level playing field

Professor Heath Lees founded the New Zealand Wagner Society in 1994. His DVD boxed set of four documentaries: “Wagner’s Ring – A Tale Told in Music” was reviewed in Wagner News 212: January 2014 and is available from wagners-ring.com Wagner symposium EXPLORING IDEAS TOGETHER We welcome your suggestions for thought-provoking topics which can provide us with opportunities to set up an exchange of ideas by picking the brains of our readers. There may be a field of enquiry which you feel that you can open with a discursive, polemical or interrogatory introduction to probe, to challenge or to bring a fresh approach to prevailing assumptions or just to put out feelers for responses to an original proposal. [email protected]

– 29 – MY LIFE WITH WAGNER Autobiography of Christian Thielemann B John Crowther

If Wagner were to appear unexpectedly in front of Christian Thielemann his first question would be: “My dear Wagner, why were you so wrong about Mendelssohn?” This is surprising from someone who has become the most renowned Wagnerian conductor in the world and who is now the Music Director of the Bayreuth Festival. But Wagner has not re-appeared, so Thielemann has had to provide the answer himself: Wagner was jealous of Mendelssohn. Whereas Wagner had to scrape a living in his early years, Mendelssohn was born into a banking family, lacked for nothing and could pursue his music without a care. Whilst Wagner used words to assassinate Mendelssohn’s character, he silently paid Mendelssohn a towering compliment by “borrowing” many of Mendelssohn’s orchestral ideas, without acknowledgement of course. Thielemann tells us how Wagner imitated Mendelssohn’s choral style in Die Feen , how Wagner modelled his Columbus overture on Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage , how the Prelude to Das Rheingold was influenced by the wave motive in the overture The Fair Melusine , how Parsifal quotes the Dresden Amen from the Reformation Symphony, and how, at the beginning of the Ring Cycle, Wotan assumes the musical mantle of the introductory recitative from Mendelssohn’s Elijah . The first part of the book describes Thielemann’s meteoric trajectory from cradle to podium via the piano and viola. As a youth he wanted only Wagner, and to conduct only Wagner, and he knew there was nowhere higher to aim than to conduct the Ring in Bayreuth. He became a pupil of Karajan and was soon recruited into Bayreuth by Wolfgang Wagner who became a father figure. Indeed this book is dedicated to him “with great admiration and gratitude”. The second part, Wagner’s Cosmos comprises a generic approach to the music dramas, the Wagnerian orchestra, the words and music and Wagner’s mythical subjects. It also describes the Festspielhaus , with its unique acoustics and covered pit: the so-called “mystic abyss”. In the chapter Wagner for beginners Thielemann urges newcomers not to be afraid and unravels Wagner’s message and the sort of characters Wagner invented to impart his message. Whereas most authors dismiss the Frühwerke and start with Der fliegender Holländer , Thielemann starts with Die Feen. Thielemann argues that Wagnerians need to understand how Wagner’s compositional style developed throughout the Frühwerke in order to get a full appreciation of his mature operas. Thielemann describes the minutiae of orchestral performance for each opera, listing not only the instruments used in the pit but also those played on-stage which help to create the sound-world that is so original in Wagner’s music.

– 30 – Tickets Online at www.saffronhall.com By telephone on 0845 548 7650 SaffronOperaGroup Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre On the door, subject to availability £12 to £20 (concessions available) Wagner Das Rheingold First part of SOG’s Ring Cycle

Concert performance An international cast including: Jeremy White Wotan Nicholas Folwell Alberich Stephen Rooke Loge Deborah Humble Erda Saffron Opera Group Orchestra Leader: Jennifer Wigram Conductor: Michael Thorne 2.30pm Sunday17 January 2016 Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden

Sponsored by SAFFRON OPERA: THE START OF A NEW COMPANY Francis Lambert, Director Opera companies spring up in the most surprising places nowadays. If you have an old barn in a small village way off the beaten track then you are well on the way, providing you have very deep pockets, boundless enthusiasm and invincible optimism. Saffron Opera Group has a different story to tell. In our case we started with a state comprehensive school with an out-dated school hall and a visionary local benefactor who made a grant, through his Yellow Car Charitable Trust for the school to build a state of the art 740-seater concert hall. Major stipulations were that the hall should have world class acoustics, promote professional concerts of the highest standard, and be available as a community facility for local music-making. With Wagnerian soprano Elaine McKrill as Casting Advisor there followed some months of fevered activity in 2014 to put together a performance of Die Meistersinger with chorus singers from the Cambridge Philharmonic Society, Cambridge University Music Society, Harlow Chorus, the Saffron Walden Choral Society and even one or two from the Royal Opera House Chorus and the BBC Singers. The orchestra took as its basis the St Albans Symphony Orchestra. with additional musicians invited for key parts. The strings were reinforced with twenty additional professional players so that we could have a full Wagnerian string section. The logistics of producing an opera of this are immense, from arranging everything with Saffron Hall to sourcing a period cobbler’s last and hammer for Hans Sachs. Obtaining surtitles caused some amusement. We were put in touch with Ken Charles from the Royal Opera House and when we asked if we could hire the surtitles, he asked what for. When we told him of our plans he replied that anyone who was mad enough to attempt Die Meistersinger could have them for free! He let us borrow their portable surtitle system and put us in touch with Judi Palmer who operated them for us. We owe them many thanks. The summer came and went. The orchestra rehearsed. The chorus rehearsed. And so to full rehearsals in Saffron Hall and at St Albans before the performance on 14th September. It went without a hitch, mainly due to our Concert Manager’s meticulous planning. It also proved to be a triumph of casting by Elaine McKrill and a tribute to the stamina of the orchestra and its energetic Director, Mike Thorne. Invidious as it usually is to pick out principals by name, special mention must be made of Andrew Greenan, who imbued Hans Sachs with all the necessary gravitas, Jonathan Finney as an earnest and intense Walther, Adam Tunnicliffe’s appealing and musical David and the revelation that was Inga-Britt Andersson as Eva. After a standing ovation, all the cast enjoyed a well-earned reception afterwards. But this was not the end. We got terrific reviews, not least from Michael Tanner in Opera magazine, Jim Pritchard on Seen and Heard and Paul Dawson-Bowling in Wagner News saying that it was, “the best sung performance, live, of Die Meistersinger that I have witnessed for forty years.” So, for Saffron Opera Group it is more of a beginning. The formula of matching fully professional soloists with an invitation orchestra and chorus clearly works well enough to merit critical praise. With the fantastic acoustics of Saffron Hall and the intimacy of a concert performance we might venture to suggest that this should be a ‘must’ for all Wagner fans. The Saffron Opera Ring Cycle starts on 17th January 2016

– 32 – UNEXPECTED OPERA PRESENTS THE RINSE CYCLE

Wagner’s Ring conditioned with comedy and shrunk to one evening Charing Cross Theatre from 15th February to 12th March 2016

Roger Lee The Unexpected Opera Rinse Cycle Team have the expertise, the wit and the guts to “shrink” The Ring as part of their mission to introduce Wagner to new audiences. The production will be sung in English on a single night without taking it too seriously. Director Lynn Binstock said: “In The Rinse Cycle we’ll remove encrusted stereotypes and cultural stains using Andrew Porter’s acclaimed translation. You can expect lots of laughter, but this is not a parody. It’s an occasion for magnificent music, profound insights, moving encounters and some unexpected fun.” The script is by Roger Mortimer, Nancy Surman is the designer and the company includes Mari Wyn Williams, Cara McHardy, Simon Thorpe, Paul Reeves, Harriet Williams, Mae Heydorn, Edward Hughes, Brian Smith Walters, Anna Gregory and Justine Viani. Music Director Kelvin Lim (who has been coaching Wagner singers for years) adds: “Wagner’s music is incredible. The Ring explores every emotion which we experience. It’s a universe in itself. We shall be performing it with the best young singers around.”

Tickets from the Charing Cross Theatre Box Office. 08444 930 650

www.unexpectedopera.com

THE WAGNER SOCIETY CHRISTMAS PARTY Catherine Dobson Fortunate members of the Wagner Society enjoyed a welcome innovation to our events programme on 2nd December 2015. A Committee member generously hosted the party in his charming home. We drank champagne to a background of Wagner's music, then feasted on delicious food whilst greeting old friends and making new ones. Animated conversation about operatic experiences ensured that there was continuous buzz of excitement. This was a pre-Christmas treat and a sparkling (in all senses) start to the festive season.

– 33 – Andrea Buchanan, Secretary of the Society, announces her retirement from the role in May 2016 at the AGM. While she will remain on the Committee, she will henceforth be responsible for the Singing Competition, young artists and RWVI/Bayreuth liaison. This will give her scope to develop these activities on behalf of the Wagner Society. Applications for the position of Secretary from members are welcome. The Secretary is an officer of the Society. Please write to Richard Miles if you are interested in applying.

– 34 – the Wagner society

President: Dame Gwyneth Jones Vice President: Sir John Tomlinson CONTACTS

Chairman: Richard Miles [email protected] Court Lodge Farm, Blechingley, Surrey RH1 4LP

Secretary and Wagner Andrea Buchanan [email protected] Society Bursary Manager: [email protected]

Treasurer: Neil King [email protected]

Membership Secretary: Margaret Murphy [email protected] 16 Doran Drive, Redhill, Surrey RH1 6AX

Archivist: Geoffrey Griffiths [email protected]

Ticket Secretary: Mike Morgan [email protected]

Committee Member: Charlie Furness Smith [email protected]

Committee Member: Edward Hewitt [email protected]

Wagner News Editor: Roger Lee [email protected] 155 Llanrwst Road, Colwyn Bay LL28 5YS

Director of Malcolm Rivers www.mastersingers.info The Mastersingers and [email protected] The Goodall Scholars: 44 Merry Hill Mount, Bushey, Herts. WD 23 1DJ

Wagner Society website: www.wagnersociety.org Registered charity number 266383

– 35 – FORTHCOMING WAGNER SOCIETY EVENTS

7.00pm Tuesday 19 th January DINNER RECITAL JOINTLY HOSTED BY THE BERLIOZ SOCIETY, LISZT SOCIETY, ALKAN SOCIETY, RICHARD STRAUSS SOCIETY, MAHLER SOCIETY AND THE WAGNER SOCIETY – LAST CHANCE TO BUY TICKETS This annual event will feature performances of works by all the composers, followed by dinner Tickets £48 obtainable from The Alkan Society. See our website for details The Forge, 3-7 Delancey Street, London NW1 7NL Camden Town

7:30pm Tuesday 23 rd February THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST WAGNER A talk by Professor Derek Hughes There is no denying the ugliness of Wagner's views about the Jews, but their very ugliness encourages over-confidence in his critics: hasty inference; anachronism, and worse. Derek Hughes has read widely in the anti-Jewish literature of Wagner's Germany and will attempt to restore historical balance to this undoubtedly troubling topic. Tickets £15/£7.50 students St Botolph’s Church Hall, Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TL Liverpool Street

10:30am to 5:00pm April 23 rd TANNHÄUSER STUDY DAY Presented by Paul Dawson Bowling, Maestro Anthony Negus and John Treleaven A day of lectures, music and discussion to coincide with the ROH production of Tannhäuser. Programme details will be published on the website in due course and will be e-mailed to members Tickets £30/£15 students St Botolph’s Church Hall, Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TL Liverpool Street

SAVE THE DATES WAGNER SOCIETY AGM – Wednesday 18 th May 18:30 St Botolph’s PRESIDENT’S AWARD MASTER CLASS GIVEN BY DAME GWYNETH JONES A repeat of last year’s highly successful and enjoyable event, with this year’s joint winners of the President’s Award – Katie Stevenson and Gareth Dafydd Morris. Thursday 19 th May, Royal Over-Seas League, London SW1 – Time to be announced Tickets £25/£7.50 students

Tickets for the above events (except 19 th January) are available from Mike Morgan, 9 West Court, Downley, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 5TG. Please send cheques payable to The Wagner Society, enclosing an SAE. Tickets, if still available, also sold at the door. More details of forthcoming events are available at www.wagnersociety.org