No: 205 April 2012 Number 205 April 2012 INSIDE 4 18th January Committee Meeting Report Andrea Buchanan

6 Covent Garden Die Meistersinger Katie Barnes

10 Karlsruhe Singing Competition Andrea Buchanan

11 Munich Visitors Jeremy Rowe

12 Birmingham Die Meistersinger Gerald Mallon

13 Favourite Books Geoffrey Griffiths

14 Masterclasses with Petra Lang Katie Barnes

17 Pleased to meet you Richard Hyland

18 Cinema relay of Götterdämmerung from the New York Met Ewen Harris

22 Presteigne Weekend: 21st to 23rd September

24 Richard Strauss Event: 12th April

25 From Russia with Love David Edwards

28 Tristan und Isolde at Birmingham Paul Dawson-Bowling

29 Book review: Wagner’s Women Chris Argent

34 Bayreuth Festival tickets Andrea Buchanan

35 Letter to Bayreuth from the North American Wagner Societies

36 A conversation with Richard Berkeley-Steele Jeremy Rowe

37 New Wagner Society website goes live Ken Sunshine

38 Letters Karel Werner Colin Humphreys

40 Book review: Guide to Tristan und Isolde Meirion Bowen

Cover: Petra Lang (See: page 14) Photo: Peter West [email protected] 01256 322 339 Printed by Rap Spiderweb – www.rapspiderweb.com 0161 947 3700

–2– EDITOR’S NOTE

“The survival of an art form depends partly on its relevance to any given era and partly on its adaptability in terms of communication. ” On pages 18 to 21 of this issue we report the live relay of Götterdämmerung to our cinemas from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. This quotation (from Decca producer John Culshaw in 1967) came to mind as 21st century technology enabled us to join a worldwide audience and to witness an ingeniously innovative approach to set design in the form of “The Machine” or, as our reviewer Ewen Harris would have it, “The Planks”. Upon completing the historic Solti recording of Der Ring in 1964 John Culshaw mused: “I wondered what Wagner would have thought of his masterpiece becoming available in terms of mass communication. He had built his theatre for a devoted minority to set a standard and an example to be followed by other theatres throughout the world. He had no reason to suppose that more people than could ever be accommodated in all those theatres would eventually have access to his work.” Culshaw argued that if the philosophy of Der Ring is to be shown to have universal application and validity, and if its content is to make contact with a wide modern audience then the means of presentation must be those of our time rather than those considered adequate in the 19th century. In the July 2011 issue of Wagner News we reported David Edwards’ introduction to the New York Met’s relay of Die Walküre at the half-way point of the Cycle. Speaking at the Mastersingers’ Living in Exile weekend in Aldeburgh he advised us that, whatever we think of Robert Lepage’s production, we have to accept that the art form is changing for a new generation of audiences. “If that brings health, vitality, money, imagination and longevity to the business which we all love, then I am all for it. We have to accept that ‘fings ain’t what they used to be.” Asked which of the modern productions he thought Richard Wagner would have approved, David Edwards directed us to RW’s well-known dictum: Kinder, schaff’ neues ! (children, do something new). “I think that he would have loved to see as much imagination, variety and challenge as possible in the production of his work. What is critical is that we tell the story. As directors and designers we have to provide the singers with an environment in which they can do this truthfully and most effectively, and we must always stimulate the minds of the audience.” John Culshaw’s description of the achievement manifested in the first complete studio recording of Der Ring as “the happiest of coincidences, ie the coming together of a team of enthusiasts who loved Wagner and found nothing irreconcilable between his work and the medium at their disposal” could equally well be applied to those who brought us the recent Ring production from the New York Met.

“Ring Resounding: The recording in stereo of Der Ring des Nibelungen ” by John Culshaw, published in 1967, features as one of Geoffrey Griffiths’ Favourite Books on page 13. Humphrey Burton’s legendary 1965 BBC TV documentary of the recording of the Solti / Culshaw Götterdämmerung : “The Golden Ring” is available on DVD.

–3– REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE Notes from the Committee Meeting held on 18th January 2012 Andrea Buchanan The Chairman began the meeting by drawing attention to the declining number of attendees at Wagner Society events. The result of this was that most of the events were losing money and the poor attendance reflected badly with invited speakers. The committee discussed various reasons for this and it was decided that we would hold the next few events in the Swedenborg Hall to see whether this made any difference. We turn to our members to ask you why so few of you come to our meetings. Please let us know your thoughts on the programmes, the locations, etc. Please email: [email protected] or write to me at the address on Page 43. One event that was very well attended was the showing of Tony Palmer’s Wagner Film in conjunction with Highgate Film Society. This was a great success, despite the inclement weather. The committee noted the Chairman’s plans for future events, including an evening in the Autumn with the renowned young heldentenor, Simon O’Neill. Details of forthcoming events in the Spring and Summer can be found on the flyers included with this copy of Wagner News. The Secretary and Treasurer then gave their reports, with the Secretary noting in particular the recent decision by the Bayreuth management to allocate no more tickets via the ticket office to Wagner Societies in future, and the Treasurer confirming that our financial position remained healthy. The Membership Secretary then reported a slow start to membership renewals for 2012. It remains to be seen whether the Bayreuth decision will have a significant impact on membership numbers. It was also felt that communication regarding renewals should be very clear this coming year and should leave no room for misunderstanding, as some of the banking instructions had not been followed. Illegible handwriting on the membership forms remains a problem. The Secretary was pleased to announce that the Society had recently received an allocation of six tickets for Bayreuth thanks to our corporate membership of the Friends. Members will by now have received their ballot letters and the draw for the winners will have taken place. We will publish the results in the next edition of Wagner News. Ian Jones had been tracking the numbers and locations of visitors to the website and reported that after the UK the majority of visitors to the site came from the USA, Germany and Ireland. He was also experimenting with the use of video clips on the site. The meeting then went on to discuss the Library, and the handover of much of the material from Geoffrey Griffiths to Peter Curtis. Peter is doing a wonderful job of housing our archives and we are most grateful to him for this. The rest of the meeting was taken up with the decision to contribute to the Wagner Journal and to confirming our commitment to promising young Wagner singers by making a contribution to coaching fees. The next meeting will be held on 25th April.

We welcome feedback from members, so please write to the Secretary with your comments. We also want to build up our email contact list so that we can keep you informed of new events etc. If you wish to be included in this list please email secretary@ wagnersociety.org

–4– –5–– 5– MEISTERSINGER MIT MICROBES Royal Opera House Covent Garden: 19th + 23rd Dec 2011 and 4th + 8th Jan 2012 Katie Barnes Photography: Clive Barda / Royal Opera House Having witnessed its first night in 1993 it seems almost unbelievable to me that this production is now eighteen years old and that this was its fifth series of performances. Almost universally acclaimed when it was new, this time around it has suffered something of a backlash from critics who have complained that it takes too sunlit a view of an opera which undeniably has its darker side in Sachs' melancholia, in Beckmesser's humiliation, and, most importantly in terms of recent British history, in the finale to Act II. After the terrible events of last summer, the treatment of the riot as an acrobatic spectacular leaves a sour taste. Yet on closer examination, even the staging of that scene is darker than it first appears. The audience may laugh at the struggling acrobats suspended from the flies, but the sight of Foltz frenziedly taking an axe to one of the lovingly tended miniature houses, and of the sunny David trying to strangle Beckmesser show the madness lurking deep within us all. Where this production is still exceptionally strong is in its sense of the importance of community. The sense of civic pride in Act I when the curtain rises on the packed church and children bring in beautifully detailed models of historic Nuremberg buildings wraps the audience in a warm glow which is repeated when the apprentices are discovered polishing the larger models in Act II. After the horrors of the riot the sense of community re-emerges in Act III Scene 2, especially in the endlessly fascinating dance sequence, during which the sloping stage is covered with different dances which gradually flower and evolve, threading through and around one another as their complex patterns develop and the colours and shapes of the costumes make the crowded stage resemble a living kaleidoscope (the use of the Guild members’ huge picture hats is exceptionally effective). Singers, dancers, actors and acrobats are so much at one that the audience can scarcely tell which is which – all that matters is that they are all a part of the city. When they sit to listen to Sachs' speech, I love the way they all settle down, fidgeting, as he launches into the address proper, and their multi-coloured garb makes the stage look like a flower bed. There is such a strong feeling of love throughout this scene, for Sachs and for his “ liebes Nürenberg ”, and that sense of community is re-affirmed one last time during his final solo as first one person rises then another, then another, and then more and more until they are all on their feet. It is intensely moving. In this revival a new generation took up the baton. Of this cast, only Sir John Tomlinson had appeared in the production before, and there were a number of important house and/or role debuts. At the beginning of the run, with the newcomers still feeling their way, this affected the balance of the opera. On the first night I reflected that it was an unusual Meistersinger indeed when Pogner and David received most applause. But as the run progressed and the newcomers worked in, it was interesting to see how the balance changed and how individual performances matured. –6–– 6– Wolfgang Koch, who made his Royal Opera debut as Sachs, was largely an unknown quantity in the UK prior to the opening night. I was hugely impressed by his massive, epic performance as Reimann's Lear in Frankfurt in 2008, which made me hope for great things from his Sachs here. On the first night those hopes were not altogether realised. He was clearly nervous, and although his voice sounded fine he was too bland, lightweight and small-scale for the house. Crucially, he lacked star profile in a production created for a star of stars. He settled in in Act III where the Wahnmonolog gave promise of better things to come, but the overall impression was of a merely workmanlike performance. Later in the run, as he became accustomed to the size of the house, the subtleties of his portrayal became more apparent and it deepened into one of the darkest Sachses I have witnessed. In Act II the intense pain of his reaction when he realised that he had lost Eva to Stolzing was genuinely powerful, and it explained (and fuelled) his very real rage against Beckmesser. For all his surface bonhomie, this Sachs had clearly been very angry over Beckmesser's insults in Act I, and the way he threw Beckmesser's words “wie's schlappt, und überall klappt ” back in his face was quite uncomfortable. His wrecking of the serenade became an elaborate and not at all good-humoured revenge for both himself and Stolzing. His anger was channelled against anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way – David, Beckmesser, Eva and Stolzing were all at the mercy of his temper at one time or another. In his way this Sachs was nearly as vindictive as Beckmesser, but he dealt with his negative feelings in a different way – they were almost Licht-Alberich and Schwartz-Alberich. It will be interesting to see what he brings to Alberich in the Royal Opera’s Ring cycles later this year. On the first night it could not have helped Koch’s state of mind to know that this production’s original Sachs was in the cast. In this series John Tomlinson has scored the possibly unique hat-trick of having sung the Nightwatchman, Sachs and Pogner at the Royal Opera House. The top of his voice is undeniably frayed, but he simply could not help radiating the star quality and magnificence that Koch lacked. That mighty presence, the white mane, the gold chain, the sheer hugeness of his personality made it seem as though Wotan were living in Nuremberg incognito. He made the character so much more complex and layered than usual. The way he kept looking to Sachs during the Johannistag aria made it clear that his apparently hare-brained plan to award Eva to the winner of the contest was intended to give Sachs the chance to marry her, and he looked utterly horrified at “ ich und ihr ” as he began to realise what a terrible mistake he might have made. In Act II “ auch Eitelkeit? ” and “ Was denn? ” become moments of blinding revelation, the first as he stood alone, recognising his folly, and the second as he looked deep into Eva's eyes and understood at last that she loved Stolzing. His look of joy as he gazed at her during the Prize Song, realising that she would marry the right man after all, was heartwarming. At the end, there was a touching sense of Sir John “handing over” to Koch as he clasped Sachs’ hand, shoved him onto the singer’s platform and joyously acclaimed the Meister. In the December performances Simon O’Neill did not sound at his best as Stolzing. As he sang the broadcast performance on 1st January with an “indulgence announcement” for bronchitis and sounded very distressed, I wondered whether he had been unwell since the beginning of the run. In the final two performances he sounded better and freer of voice, but the tone was uncharacteristically hard, reedy and colourless. It is possible that he was still affected by lingering illness, but it may be that the role does not suit his voice. It did not help that he was unbecomingly costumed and unhelpfully directed (the producer should never have asked this substantial tenor to crawl under a bench). This was an angry Stolzing to match an angry Sachs, and to his credit he was not –7–– 7– afraid to bring out the character’s arrogance and show his eventual ability to accept guidance. Sachs makes Stolzing, as well as Eva, a better person. As Sir Thomas Allen’s incomparable Beckmesser was one of the most precious jewels of the original production, Peter Coleman-Wright, making his debut in the role, had the hardest task. As he has such a massive dramatic range, and this role has more than once found unlikely exponents who have unexpectedly turned out to be perfect, I did not know what to expect. Again, I was disappointed. At the start of the run, he seemed to be too nice a guy to make Beckmesser nasty enough, but later, as Koch’s Sachs grew darker, Coleman-Wright responded by laying on the nastiness so thickly that it became grotesque. It was not possible to feel sorry for this Beckmesser or to feel discomfort at his humiliation. To be fair, he might do better in a production created for him than in one where he was so much overshadowed by his great predecessor. His voice sounded too dark and not incisive enough. On 4th January Kasper Holten explained to the audience that Coleman-Wright had lost his voice and described in the most pathetic terms how the management had had terrible trouble finding another Beckmesser and contemplated cancelling the performance. At the last moment they had found the excellent Christopher Purves, who sang from the side of the stage while Coleman-Wright mimed. Purves acted and sang with such splendid incisiveness from his music stand that I wished that he could have taken the stage. Suddenly Beckmesser became so much more vivid. His take on the character was almost Alberichian, and his rolled R's in Act II dripped venom. But yet again, following a similar débâcle in the 2010 Tannhäuser , one wonders why the Royal Opera did not have a walking understudy primed to go on if needed. Given the Opera House’s seat prices, their audiences deserve a better Plan B. At the final performance, Coleman-Wright courageously returned, but was obviously unwell. Emma Bell's Eva (another role debut) was problematic. This is a lovely, dark, mature, experienced soprano voice which we are accustomed to hearing in commanding roles such as Vitellia and Donna Anna. She sounded too redoubtable, more Ortrud than Eva, and dramatically she lacked the girlishness, youth and joy for the role. Eva’s relationship with Sachs came across as ruthlessly manipulative. This was an angry young woman out of her time. Perhaps Bell’s intention was to show how Eva had had to fight for herself after losing her mother, but in doing so she made the character unsympathetic. I was left feeling that Sachs would be better off without this little madam, and Heaven help Stolzing. Later in the run she was able to make more of Eva's desperate anxiety in Act II, and more importantly, her role as a calming influence on her tempestuous Walther. The moment when she placed her hands on his chest after the Watchman's first horn call and gazed into his eyes, steadying him as he was about to panic, said so much about their relationship. But I question whether this is really her role. This voice wants a winged helmet, shield and breastplate and, who knows, one day it may get them. At the final performance Eva became the final casualty of the illnesses sweeping the cast. Both Bell and her cover were unwell, and Barbara Havemann flew in from Vienna four hours before curtain up and discussed the music with Pappano in the taxi from the airport to the theatre. One can hardly imagine less auspicious circumstances for a Royal Opera debut, but she more than rose to the challenge. Singing from the side of the stage while Bell mimed, she sang exquisitely with a lovely silvery tone and acted with a captivating, shy charm which was very much at odds with Bell's hard-nosed girl and made me realise what we had been missing. The management owe her a return date, soon. –8–– 8– Unusually, the David was the member of the cast who had most experience in his role. I first saw Toby Spence as David in Brussels in 2000. Eleven years on, this run confirmed him as the international David of choice. In the intervening years he has very shrewdly expanded his repertoire to weightier roles and his sweet lyric voice has grown so much in size and strength that he sounds ready to challenge Walther! This is a portrayal full of charm and wit – he makes an utterly adorable apprentice, and as he does not appear to have aged a day since I saw him in Brussels, I can only conclude that he must have a picture hidden in his attic. His cheery authority in Act I is a particular joy, and with that youthful countenance and golden hair it is he, not Walther, who looks like a Dürer drawing. Bell’s hardness and artifice were also shown up by Heather Shipp, a younger Magdalene than usual, who was utterly enchanting, one of the finest exponents of the role I have seen. Her rich mezzo, lighter than one often hears in this role but not too light, and her youth and vivacity made the character a more credible partner for David than is often the case, and she and Spence created a believable and very touching relationship. Donald Maxwell was a gloriously fussy, hidebound Kothner. His voice sounds barely touched by the years and his hand movements say everything about the character. Why on earth have we never heard him as Beckmesser? The beautifully directed and splendidly sung Meisters ranged in experience from Jette Parker Young Artists Jihoon Kim and Pablo Bemsch and young Colin Judson, giving some credible contenders for Eva's hand, through Mastersingers alumni Richard Wiegold and Andrew Rees to veterans Nicholas Folwell, Jeremy White and Martyn Hill. They included some wonderful character sketches – I especially loved Judson’s Vogelgesang, a delightfully haughty little Hilliard miniature who plainly had his own hopes of winning Eva but was initially sympathetic to Stolzing, and Wiegold's Schwartz, whom we first saw dragging his apprentice offstage for a beating, but who hung his head like a naughty child when Kother silenced him at “ Verstand man recht? ” Rees' look of horror and revulsion when Stolzing proclaimed love as his theme suggested that he was about to sing a rugby ditty. Robert Lloyd, placed too far upstage to have much effect, gave the Nightwatchman gravity, dignity and an unsteady vocal line. I first heard Antonio Pappano conduct Die Meistersinger in Brussels in 2000 in a theatre the size of a toy box compared with the Royal Opera House. He has a beautiful way with the score, full of love and delicacy yet with an epic sweep. As always, he brought out details of the orchestration in a way that few others do, but on this occasion it had the unfortunate side effect of making the brass far too prominent, especially in the Prelude. The orchestra, sharing their Wagnerian duties with umpteen seasonal renditions of The Nutcracker , played with their very souls, and the enormous chorus created a glorious sound, especially in “ Wach’ auf ”. Not bad for what Holten, at the dress rehearsal, called “our little Christmas show”! –9–– 9– INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION FOR WAGNER VOICES Karlsruhe, October 11th-14th 2012 Andrea Buchanan Dame Gwyneth Jones is a member of the jury chaired by Eva Wagner-Pasquier for this event which is held every three years under the auspices of the Richard Wagner Verband International. The competition seeks to discover young singers at the start of their careers with the potential to become great Wagnerians. Finalists receive prize money of €2,000 and the winner and runner-up will receive €5,000 and €3,000. There is also a “People’s Choice” award of €1,000. We are proud to enter Helena Dix, winner of our Bayreuth Bursary competition. In 2006 we were delighted that our previous candidate Miriam Murphy reached the finals. We wish Helena every success in this prestigious competition. The Richard Wagner Verband of Karlsruhe in association with Opera Viva Tours has organised an excellent package for Wagner Society members which includes hotel accommodation for 3 nights (11th to 13th October), a choice of tours and visits, tickets for the semi-final and final of the competition and a ticket for Tannhäuser at the Baden State Theatre. Prices are from €531 not including travel. Details are available from the Secretary, address on page 43. Order forms for the Opera Viva package must be returned to them by 30th April.

– 10 – MUNICH WAGNER SOCIETY VISIT TO LONDON 4th – 6thJanuary 2012 Jeremy D Rowe No sooner had the Munich Wagner Society group (led by their Vice-President, Ute Armanski, and treasurer Frank Jaegar) checked in to their London Hotel than they were whisked away by their Wagner Society hosts for Die Meistersinger at the Royal Opera House. Other members of the Wagner Society joined them for interval refreshments in the conservatory, and the group thoroughly enjoyed the Graham Vick production. There was much praise in particular for Sir John Tomlinson (Pogner), who is held in very high esteem in Germany. Many of the visitors had been anxious in case the production turned out to be “weird”, and they were greatly pleased to find that it was in fact traditional. Uncertainties about current productions at Bayreuth were strongly expressed by several of the group. The next day started with a short bus tour, with Jeremy giving the commentary, and a visit to St Paul's Cathedral, for which the group had very high regard. After lunch they wandered around Covent Garden piazza before enjoying a guided tour of the Royal Opera House, hosted by Susan Fisher, Chair of the Friends. They requested a typically English menu for dinner at Christopher's and this was followed by an exciting concert in St Paul's Church, Covent Garden. Alison Pearce was accompanied by David Syrus in a very mixed programme of songs. Early music by Purcell, Linley and Greene was set against 20th century songs by Ireland, Howells and Quilter. An excerpt from Elgar's The Kingdom completed the first half. Following the interval Alison and David performed Berlioz's Les Nuits d'Ete ; and then went into the Wagnerian part of the programme. The bizarre song Les deux grenadiers made many of us laugh, but at least it was recognisably by Wagner. It was followed by three short French songs which showed little of Wagner's characteristics, and were certainly curiosities, surprising many in the audience that Wagner had ever written songs with French words. The programme finished with two operatic excerpts: Ada's Cavatina from Die Feen , and Isabella's Act I aria from Das Liebesverbot . The final day started with a visit to the Handel House Museum, and then to various art galleries. The evening was that of the Wagner Society's Annual Dinner hosted by Jeremy and Dame Gwyneth Jones. As well as the Munich party we welcomed Wagnerians from Paris, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe, and the Oxford Society's chair, Christian Stier. The visitors were delighted to meet Dame Gwyneth and all have a very high regard for her work. President of the Wagner Society of Karlsruhe and Vice-president of the Richard Wagner Verband International Professor Hans-Michael Schneider read a letter from Eva Märtson, President of the Verband International, sending good wishes for the success of the dinner, and looking forward to meeting at the Congress in Prague. After dinner Jeremy interviewed Dame Gwyneth, who spoke about her recent experiences filming with Dustin Hoffman, and then went on to talk of her dream, shared by Eva Märtson, of improved support for young singers. The climax of the evening came with a performance of the Immolation Scene with Zoë South accompanied by Kelvin Lim. Wearing a replica of Dame Gwyneth's dress from the Chereau Ring Immolation Scene, Zoë performed in the round. With its high domed ceiling, the acoustic of the Betjeman Room is excellent, and the European visitors were thrilled by Kelvin's playing: “just as if there was an orchestra,” said one of them. Zoë was clearly enjoying herself, and her enthusiasm was appreciated by the audience.

– 11 – DIE MEISTERSINGER VON N ÜRNBERG Royal Opera House Company at Symphony Hall Birmingham on 11th January 2012 Gerald Mallon It is reasonable to assume that a fair proportion of an almost capacity audience at Symphony Hall booked their seats in the expectation that Bryn Terfel would reprise his splendid Hans Sachs given with the Welsh National Opera in Birmingham last July. Sadly, the Welsh bass- baritone withdrew through illness at short notice and we were fortunate that Wolfgang Koch was available to step in to save the show. This change meant that the cast was identical to that which performed the work in the staged version over the previous month at the Royal Opera House. Whilst many concert performances of operas are marred by singers who have their heads buried in the score, this cast acted their proverbial socks off with not a score in sight. The merit of a concert performance is of course that one may appreciate the music and the singing uncluttered by the staging, although it has to be said that Graham Vick’s 1993 staging at the Royal Opera House has stood the test of time. Simon O’Neill as Walther and Peter Coleman-Wright as Beckmesser in particular must have been grateful to dispense with their unflattering costumes which resembled a trussed turkey and a Malvolio look-alike respectively. This was one of those rare performances: one without a weak link. Given the size of the orchestral forces, the augmented chorus (68 including the 11 apprentices) and the cast, that is saying something. The stars of the show were the orchestra, who demonstrated that Wagner’s music tells the story as much as the singers, and the chorus. Pappano has grown into a Wagnerian of the highest quality as was evidenced by his lightness of touch and the ability of his massive forces to play quietly, when accompanying the apprentices for example. Pappano is very much a singers’ conductor and this was born out by his sympathetic accompaniment of Sachs’ monologues and the great quintet. Interestingly, Pappano lined up his band with the first and second violins to his left, the cellos in front of him and the violas to his right with the double basses behind them. The wonderful acoustics of Symphony Hall (is it really 21 years old?) ensured that this formula worked splendidly. It was interesting to hear a native German Sachs since Bryn Terfel and John Tomlinson have dominated the casting of the role in Britain in recent years. Koch is cast in a different mould. His voice has greater range than the Brits but falls short on power and stage presence and he gives the impression of singing within himself, particularly in the great monologue Wahn! Wahn! . These qualities may develop in time since he looks about the same age as the Walther. However, he did convey convincingly the varying emotions of world-weary cynicism, feelings for Eva and the need for the Mastersingers to be receptive to new ideas without dispensing with tradition if their raison-d’e ̂ret of preserving German art in the face of adversity was to be achieved. Peter Coleman-Wright appeared not to have fully recovered from the illness which caused him to withdraw from the performance at the Covent Garden on 4th January, though his acting was of the highest order, conveying priggish indignation and pedantry throughout. The pick of the male voices was undoubtedly Toby Spence whose ringing tenor, coltish youthful looks and energy made a quite brilliant David. Do we really appreciate this versatile gem we have in our midst? With lead tenor roles around the world – 12 – in Rossini, Stravinsky, Janácv ek, Gounod, Offenbach, Britten, Gluck, Thomas, Strauss and Tchaikovsky he has quite a CV. Simon O’Neill certainly enjoys a challenge. His first Walther was at the Royal Opera House in December 2011 and he also made his debut as Parsifal in Bayreuth last year. The New Zealander cuts an ungainly figure on stage and would look more at home in the All Blacks front row. His acting deficiencies however were soon overlooked as his ringing voice filled Symphony Hall. His stamina is prodigious, although his final rendition of Morgenlich leuchtend did show understandable signs of tiring. John Tomlinson was a splendid Pogner. The occasional roughness of tone suggested that he was wise to concede the role of Sachs to the younger man although he was clearly itching to join Koch in the final monologue before the song contest. Emma Bell was excellent as Eva – no simpering maid but a feisty young woman who knows her mind and can twist Sachs, Pogner, Beckmesser and Walther around her little finger. Little surprise therefore that she will sing Elsa for Welsh National Opera in their eagerly awaited Lohengrin next year, and her first Sieglinde must surely follow. Splendid support came from Heather Shipp who made a sexier Magdalene than usual. Perhaps if Eva and Magdalene had swapped dresses before Beckmesser’s Act I serenade then those attending their first Meistersinger may have been aided in their comprehension. Another quibble was the handling of the riot scene, difficult to achieve effectively in a concert performance but surely the answer was not for the Mastersingers to turn on one another with the apprentices remaining static in the choir stalls. However, it is churlish to quibble about a wonderful evening which justifiably received a standing ovation from the Birmingham audience. FAVOURITE BOOKS Geoffrey Griffiths The Decca-Solti Rheingold was my first complete Wagner Opera recording, followed over the next few years by Siegfried, Götterdämmerung and Die Walküre , so in 1967 when John Culshaw wrote his “Ring Resounding – The recording of Der Ring des Nibelungen ” it became the first book in my Wagner Library. John Culshaw writes about the world of Classical Music and Opera recording in the 1950s, the coming of the LP followed closely by stereo and the opportunity this now gave for the recording of a complete opera. A complete Ring became a dream and, following some fascinating stories of making recordings in Bayreuth, working with Solti and Kirsten Flagstad, we get to the decision to make a start with Das Rheingold and to do this with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. A major decision at this point, taking advantage of stereo, was that the music would be exactly as written by Wagner following every one of his detailed instructions. Making a stereo recording would be given as much thought and planning as a stage production. The first public performance in 1958 would be to a special meeting of The Wagner Society. Nothing more could begin until Das Rheingold had proved to be commercially successful, but we then get more wonderful stories of the planning and problems recording the remainder of Der Ring which was eventually completed in 1965. Although this book is out of print there is a copy in the Society Library and second-hand copies appear from time to time on Amazon. Geoffrey Griffiths is the Wagner Society’s Archivist and Librarian – 13 – “EIN WEISES WEIB” Petra Lang masterclasses, 4th February 2012 Katie Barnes Photography by Peter West: [email protected] Petra Lang is already known to music lovers as a great interpreter of Wagner. To this we must now add the accolade of being a generous, inspirational, utterly awe-inspiring teacher. Taking a break from rehearsals for Rusalka at Covent Garden, she and her pianist Adrian Baianu devoted their time and expertise to a weekend of masterclasses for the Mastersingers. A small number of members of the public were privileged to be admitted to the session on the Saturday afternoon. In his introduction David Edwards reminded the small audience crowded into the small studio above Peregrine's Pianos in the Grays Inn Road that the private coaching we were about to see was an opportunity for the audience to witness what is usually a very private and personal process and, as Lang observed, as it was taking place in a very small room the voices would sound very different from the way they would sound in a theatre.

Her advice to each young artist was different, depending upon their need, but basic themes emerged. Working with Zoë South , a redoubtable, ecstatic singer of Brünnhilde’s immolation, her advice centred on the need for using, conserving and communicating energy when singing, recalling how Astrid Varnay used to stand with open hands facing the audience so as to communicate her energy to them, and on the need to be cool, calm and focused when singing. She emphasised the importance of deciding when to cover notes, with the larynx lowered and relaxed, and when to sing them open, with the larynx raised. The way the singer uses the text is crucial: sung German is different from spoken German. She made South speak the passage beginning “ Die Gattin trügend ” to show her how the vowels bring out the sound of the music, and demonstrated how to “fake” the accenting of the words so as to let the vowels sit on the energy of the consonants –“Give energy on the consonant and take it on the vowel.”

– 14 – When South reached the great lament, “ Wie Sonne lauter ”, Lang told her to show anger, but not to “play self-pity” – Brünnhilde may feel sorry for what she has done, but she knows that she is a part of the curse. “Self-pity takes energy.” Even a Brünnhilde can “try to be a little soubrette soprano” to find the passages where she can save her voice: “Wagner knew where to put voices and what to do with them”. It was notable how much South’s performance improved in the light of Lang’s advice, giving her singing more light and shade, and quite definitely more anger. Sarah Pring was a vivid, furious Die Walküre Fricka who relished her words. Petra Lang reminded her that “Fricka is a goddess, not a kitchen woman.” In other words she is an aristocratic lady who is used to being respected, and who is pushing Wotan to do a better job. It is her anger and frustration which gives her the strength to tell Wotan that he cannot allow the Wälsungs to escape unpunished. She should begin the scene in a nice way, but Wotan’s refusal then makes her increasingly angry. Once again, Lang emphasised the importance of focusing on consonants, and the subject of focusing the singer’s energy was vital. She exhorted Pring to “just do Wagner, don’t do Sarah. If it’s from you, throw it away. Just do what’s in the music.” At the same time, she stressed the importance of “following your own voice. We have to sound as young as possible for as long as possible.” Pring was very receptive to Lang’s advice, observing that she has seen one singer who made the role of Fricka look exhausting. Lang admitted that when she first sang Kundry she was so exhausted that she had to lie down! Mark le Brocq was the most ‘finished’ of the four singers. His distinctly heldentenorish Loge was a pure delight, and his beautiful singing and lively eyes instantly seized the audience’s attention. Recognising that his basic material was fine – she told him that “you could really do the whole role” (and I would love to see him do it) – Lang could concentrate upon fine-tuning his work. They discussed the character – Loge is snakelike but speaks out to defend himself – and she emphasised the need to show what he is thinking and how his mind works. Her main concern was that the tessitura of the role lies low for Le Brocq’s voice, and she urged him to stay in his natural timbre without vocal weightlifting. They worked on the text with endless repetitions of the phrase “ verlacht nur ” as he tried to fulfil her instruction to keep the tongue at the top of the palate to make the phrase sufficiently light. Offered the chance to sing part of Siegmund’s role, he wisely opted for “ Ein Schwert ” instead of “ Winterstürme ” “so as not to do anything foolish”. This heavier music is not so much in his vocal comfort zone as Loge, but the potential for the future was clear. Lang skilfully guided him through the music to show him how to use the consonants to lift his voice and once again stressed the importance of using the energy in the voice.

– 15 – Lee Bisset ambitiously opted for Senta’s Ballad. Dramatically, she was excellent. The opening, where the audience could see her thinking herself into the character, was truly eerie – but her breath control (not helped by her hunched stance) was uneven. Lang briskly took the aria to pieces and reassembled it, working on Bisset’s legato: “make it a beautiful carpet for the voice”, the placing of her middle register, and her posture. She made Bisset stand with her body in a straight line, and the improvement was immediate. Bisset said that she could feel her voice in her thigh and torso muscles. “Then the voice has a spin to it and it carries” Lang concluded. By the end of her session Bisset’s performance was transformed.

A simple report like this cannot hope to convey the sheer thrill of experiencing this great singer sharing her knowledge with her young colleagues. Surely they will never forget the lessons she has taught them, and their careers will be enriched thereby. This was without a doubt the greatest Mastersingers event to date.

– 16 – Pleased to meet you RICHARD HYLAND Here shown wearing his West Indies cricket hat, (albeit in Turkey) Richard Hyland has joined the production team of Wagner News as our German Consultant. He graduated in German from Hull University in 1963 having spent the summer of 1962 at the Free University of West Berlin. There he took advantage of the musical riches which were available on both sides of the wall. He studied for his Certificate of Education at King’s College, Cambridge in 1965 alongside such musicians as Andrew Davis and John Eliot Gardiner during the time when David Willcocks was in charge of the choir. “I went to Linz, Austria, to work as an English Assistant in a school where a pair of very different Wagnerians had been contemporaries: Ludwig Wittgenstein and Adolf Hitler. Both claimed to be able to whistle all of Meistersinger ! It was in Linz that I heard my first Wagner: two unforgotten performances of Meistersinger .” After a year as a Fulbright scholar in Texas he completed an MPhil on Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse at Sussex University. “I went frequently to London for Wagner, especially for Goodall’s Meistersingers , (I went six times) and to his Ring performances when I started my full-time teaching career in Portsmouth.” He taught at St Mary’s College, Crosby for 25 years. In his first year he discovered a brilliant and musical German scholar who was starting A Levels. This was Andrew Greenan who won a choral scholarship to St John’s College, Cambridge. “He remembers my taking him to his first live Wagner: Meistersingers (again!) in Manchester in 1976 when ENO used to tour. My wife Hazel and I have followed Andrew’s career ever since. We went to Brussels and Covent Garden to hear him in Meistersinger (inevitably!). Recently we heard his Titurel at the Coliseum. He was understudying Gurnemanz, so it was the first time I have ever wished that Sir John Tomlinson would lose his voice!” “When we lived on Merseyside we went to Scotland for Parsifal and Der Ring . How sad it has been to see the company in such a dire financial position after these wonderful sell-out productions.” After their retirement Richard and Hazel moved to Berkshire: “so handy for London. I have squandered a lot of my pension on Wagner at Covent Garden, Vienna, Barcelona, Cardiff, Oxford, The Coliseum, Glyndebourne, Longborough, Grange Park, etc, etc.” In Thatcham Richard runs the University of the Third Age (U3A) Music Appreciation group: “although I am an enthusiast, not an expert. I am a member of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and I have a particular passion for 20th century English music and Janácv ek, (although the latter did not like Wagner’s music!) My other great loves are steam locomotives, (an interest shared with Wagner’s devotee, Anton Bruckner) and cricket, but much less so when it is played in pyjamas. Give me test matches!” To exchange ideas and information on the finer points of the German language, cricket, steam locomotives or any other matters, contact: [email protected]

– 17 – GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG WORLDWIDE CINEMA RELAY Metropolitan Opera New York 11th February 20121 Ewen Harris Photography: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera In the Prologue the three Norns: Heide Melton, Elizabeth Bishop and Maria Radner sang well whilst weaving the rope of destiny. It is supposed to be night, as at the end of Siegfried . Firelight gleams in the background. The three ropes were being produced from single strands, one hanging from the end of each plank: a simple and appropriate setting. They tell the story of the Ring so far, some of which we already know. The rope breaks in the hands of the third Norn “The world will know nothing more of our wisdom. Down to Mother! Down!” They sink into the Earth. We now return to Brünnhilde’s rock where she encourages her hero to go forth to new deeds of heroism. She gives him Grane her horse and he gives her the ring from his finger, Alberich’s ring, taken with the Tarnhelm from Fafner’s cave. Following rapturous farewells in which both singers seemed very comfortable, Siegfried undertakes his journey to the Rhine. Some of the comfort here is down to the sensitive conducting of Fabio Luisi who reigns in the volume and keeps the pace lively. The planks are now re-orientated to represent the Rhine. The centre ones become Siegfried’s raft, carrying him and Grane with a gently rocking movement. Grane was a not very impressive creation. He was able to bend his neck to drink and to nod his head, but not to gallop into the funeral pyre, as we shall see later. Act I begins in the Gibichung Hall, with the planks representing a magnificent palace interior with alcoves for statues, impressive but sparse furniture and a gallery for the guards. Over everything is projected a cross-section of a tree trunk (The World Ash?) which did not add anything to our understanding, but at least was not intrusive. Hans Peter Koenig sang Hagen, a magnificent and beautiful bass, but again too beautiful, seemingly unwilling to convey the menace and hatred of the character as he had done so chillingly in the past, notably in Prague in 2005. Iain Patterson as Gunther initially portrayed a more rounded character than is sometimes the case, which made his descent into a later state of self-loathing that much more impressive. This was well acted, nice voice too. Fresh-voiced soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer sounded right for Gunther’s naive sister. She looked good too, but why the brass brassiere?

– 18 – Siegfried and Grane arrive on the bank of the Rhine and greetings are exchanged with Hagen and Gunther. Gutrune is introduced to Siegfried and presents him with the fateful potion, as arranged by Hagen. It produces the desired result in igniting a passion for Gutrune and erasing memories of Brünnhilde. There follows the scene where they arrange for the betrothal of Siegfried to Gutrune, and Brünnhilde to Gunther. Siegfried and Gunther swear blood-brotherhood and depart. Gutrune goes to her room. With the aid of the Tarnhelm Siegfried is to impersonate Gunther, return to Brünnhilde’s rock, woo her for Gunther and return to the Hall of the Gibichungs for the nuptials. Hagen, left to guard the palace, muses on how his plans are going well, and serving his ends. For Scene 3 we are back at Brünnhilde’s rock where she sits at the entrance to the cave gazing at the ring. She sees a thunder cloud approaching as we hear the Walkuries’ theme. Waltraute arrives to plead with Brünnhilde to return the ring to the Rhinemaidens. This is what Wotan wishes, but to Brünnhilde the ring is hers, and is the token of Siegfried’s love, so Waltraute gets short shrift. The misunderstanding leads to high drama and incomprehension between the two sisters. Waltraud Meier sang Waltraute with all her usual artistry. The voice is maybe not what it was, though still beautiful, but her acting and understanding of Wagner’s creations did understandably dominate. Following her departure the fire around the rock brightens. Brünnhilde believes with delight that Siegfried is returning. He is, of course, but only in the guise of Gunther. Brünnhilde is both terrified by the appearance of this unknown person and shocked to find that he has penetrated the protective fire. She threatens him with the power of the ring and is devastated when he is able to ignore it. He states his business, wrests the ring from her finger, and claims her in the name of Gunther who awaits them at the river. Siegfried returns to Gibichung Hall in an instant thanks to the Tarnhelm. Gunther and Brünnhilde travel by more conventional transport on the river. This was all rather straightforward front of stage stuff with the planks as suitable background. What should have been a very dramatic scene seemed to lack something in intensity. Deborah Voigt did not throw herself into it as she had done earlier. Jay Hunter Morris also seemed less convincing than he did as Siegfried proper. Was he allowing the “deception” to get to him? Act II opens outside the palace where Hagen sits at his Watch. He is asleep. His father Alberich is squatting in front of him and then creeping around him. Eric Owens’ portrayal of the dwarf is very convincing. He is not a small man, but we are easily convinced of his diminutive size by his acting and the positioning of Hunding’s chair and appropriate camera angles. A good piece of stagecraft this. We see him only briefly, but like the scene with Waltraud Meier it is one of the highlights of the evening. – 19 – Siegfried returns and then Gunther and a distraught Brünnhilde. This is where the whole thing begins to unravel. Gutrune is at first a little worried about what happened overnight but is soon assured. Hagen has assembled his vassals to celebrate the double wedding. The costumery was here rather drab – mostly shades of brown – but the singing was robust. Siegfried is happy and Gutrune can hardly believe her luck. Others wonder why Brünnhilde is in such a state. When she sees the ring on Siegfried’s finger she realises she is betrayed because Gunther had taken the ring from her and she accuses Siegfried of being a liar. Deborah Voigt put all she had into this. It wasn’t pretty but it was clear and appropriately intense. From here on things go from bad to worse with accusations and counter accusations culminating in the vengeance trio when it is decided between Hunding, Gunther and Brünnhilde that the solution is that Siegfried must die. Brünnhilde reveals that her magic protection of Siegfried did not extend to his back because she knew he would never turn his back in combat. “There then my spear shall strike” says Hagen. Gunther by this time is a broken man. A hunting party is arranged, Siegfried will die and his death will be attributed to a wild boar. This whole scene was intensely dramatic, very well sung and played and seemed to pass very quickly. Act III begins with the planks again representing water, tilted at an angle so that the Rhinemaidens are able to scamper up and slide down them. Siegfried having been separated from the hunting party comes across them, sung by Erin Morley, Jennifer Johnson Cano and Tamara Mumford. They are lamenting the loss of the gold. Hearing his horn they dive into the depths. He mutters about having been led astray by an elf. They resurface and Siegfried gives them an off-hand wave as much as to say “Hi girls”. It was a welcome light moment. They try to get him to part with the ring by entreaty and flattery. He refuses and they dive again. He then decides they can have the ring after all, takes it from his finger, holds it aloft and calls them to the surface. They appear again, this time serious and solemn, warning him of the perils of retaining the ring. He replies that they could not wheedle the ring from him and they certainly won’t get it with threats. Jay Hunter Morris clearly enjoyed these exchanges and was particularly convincing. The hunting party reunite to compare notes, Siegfried has caught nothing. They share the spoils. Gunther is unhappy and in an attempt to cheer him Siegfried volunteers to tell of his boyhood. When he gets to the point of killing the dragon and understanding the birds Hagen volunteers more drink into which he introduces an antidote to the forgetfulness potion. Siegfried continues to the point where he awakens Brünnhilde. Gunther, horrified, leaps up as two ravens fly by. Hagen asks Siegfried if he understands their cry – 20 – and says “to me they cry revenge.” As Siegfried turns to watch them Hagen plunges his spear into his back. Siegfried’s apotheosis to Brünnhilde as he dies was beautifully sung; even his last minute attempt to lift his sword seemed somehow right. As Gunther washes his bloody hands in the Rhine the water gradually turned horribly red. The funeral music was impressive enough, if rather brisk. Why the vassals did not march to the pace of the music or in step together was odd. Whether intentional or inadvertent it spoiled the visual effect. At least Gunther picked up Siegfried’s sword as the appropriate motif sounded in the orchestra, but it was lacking in gravity. As one of the orchestral highlights of the whole piece, it disappointed. Back at the palace Gutrune is appraised of the situation. She turns furiously on her brother, who indicts Hagen. He admits killing Siegfried and makes to take the ring from the dead man’s finger. Gunther regards it as his, they fight and he is killed by Hagen who makes another move to take the ring at which Siegfried’s dead arm is raised to the horror of all. Brünnhilde now emerges to deliver her obloquy to Wotan: “ alles weiss ich ”. She signs to the vassals to lift Siegfried’s body on to the pyre and takes the ring from his finger, advising the Rhinemaidens that she is now returning it to them. She puts the ring on her finger, takes a torch from one of the vassals and points towards the background. She hurls the torch into the pile of wood, mounts Grane and rides into the flames. At least this is what Wagner wanted.

What we got was in every way an embarrassing anticlimax. The conflagration was a red glow in the background. Grane was the pathetic apology for a spirited Walküre steed, which we had seen earlier, wheeled out for Brünnhilde to mount rather gingerly. There was no inferno. The Rhine appeared front of stage for the Rhinemaidens to take possession of the ring and Hagen makes a very half-hearted attempt to go after it. Effigies of the gods appear atop the “machine” and crumple rather oddly. The music, in stark contrast, was magnificent. Apart from some shaky exposed horn passages, the orchestra was superb. The conducting was expert, if lacking a little in grandeur. Messrs Voigt and Morris made a convincing pair despite the lack of time together, and can only get better. Highlights were provided by the brief appearances of Waltraud Meier and Eric Owens. The end of the Ring , with a flaming funeral pyre, a horse, an overflowing river and health and safety legislation to cope with is not easy to represent, but this was a poor effort, not to say impotent and inept especially given the amount of money involved. This is not to detract from the whole thing. Substantial sections were played out on a flat or sloping stage with due reference if not deference to Wagner’s stage directions (except for the Immolation scene). The costumes were thankfully traditional, and there were no blatant attempts to “improve” on Wagner. – 21 – “HEROISM AND VILLAINY IN OPERA, VERSE AND ART”

IN THE MEDIEVAL MARKET TOWN OF PRESTEIGNE This fascinating little town with buildings dating back to the 14th century is beautifully set in gently undulating countryside which offers the charm and tranquillity of mid Wales right on the border with England.

Friday 21st September Evening Quality Wine tasting at the Judge’s Lodging with Richard Black Grand Victorian Buffet (with wine)

Saturday 22nd September Morning Terry Barfoot presents Heroism in Opera with both live and recorded music Afternoon Dame Anne Evans works with Longborough’s Brünnhilde, Rachel Nicholls to prepare for Götterdämmerung in 2012 and the complete Ring in 2013. Evening Drinks at The Rodd followed by the opening of Sir Sidney Nolan’s exhibition on the subject of Ned Kelly and Australian folk songs of the period. Piano recital by Tamriko Sakvarelidze and her husband Richard Black .

Sunday 23rd September Morning Terry Barfoot presents Villainy in Opera . Afternoon Dame Anne Evans coaches Rachel Nicholls and other members of the Mastersingers Young Artists Programme and the Goodall Scholars . Evening Drinks at The Rodd Grand Gala Concert With international vocal and instrumental artists associated with The Mastersingers Company .

– 22 – THE MUSIC CLUB OF LONDON PACKAGE Coach transport from London, all meals, accommodation and tickets are included in the total price. Accommodation will be at the Grade II 16th century Radnorshire Arms Hotel in Presteigne, and the Knighton Hotel (a 16th century coaching inn) in Knighton, 5 miles from Presteigne. Both hotels have recently been refurbished. Participants coming by car will stay at Knighton. Unless otherwise stated, main meals will be at the Radnorshire Arms. The package includes a visit to the Elgar Birthplace Museum on Monday 24th September before resuming the coach journey to London ------APPLICATION FORM PRESTEIGNE: 21st-24th September 2012

TITLE(S)…….... SURNAME(S)………………………………………………………… FIRST NAME(S)…………………………………………………………………………. ADDRESS ……………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………..... POST CODE …………………………….... TELEPHONE ……………………………………………………………………………. EMAIL ………………………………………………………………………………...... I enclose…… non-refundable deposit(s) of £100 each Total: £……….. Please send cheque (payable to The Mastersingers Ltd) with SAE to Rosemary Frischer, 2 St George’s Avenue, London N7 0HD (Tel: 0207 700 7999; email: [email protected]) before the end of April as places are limited. The balance is due by 20th July. Please tick: …...Double Room: £477 per person ……Twin Room: £477 per person ……Double Room (Single occupancy): £512 per person

I/We intend to travel by coach…… by car…… I/We wish to visit the Elgar Museum: Yes…… No……

SIGNED……………………………………….. DATE……………………………

– 23 – Registered Charity 1076508 Artistic Director: Malcolm Rivers

Richard Strauss DAS GEHEIMNIS DER LIEBE… THE MYSTERY OF LOVE A perspective on Strauss’ complex depiction of relationships and love with scenes from Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Aegyptische Helena, Arabella and Die Frau ohne Schatten with Natalya Romaniw, Alison Roddy, Elaine McKrill, Maria Krywaniuk ( sopranos ), Anne Marie Owens ( mezzo ), Charne Rochford ( tenor ) and Pauls Putnins ( baritone ). Musical Director: Stuart Wild A joint Richard Strauss Society/Music Club of London/Mastersingers event Thursday April 12th, 2012 at 6.30 for 7.00pm 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London SW7 5PN By kind permission of Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis, at their home situated at the Gloucester Road end of the Terrace. Nearest tube: Gloucester Road TICKETS £25 to include wine & light refreshments Concessions £20 to MCL, Wagner & Strauss Society members only Tickets available from Mrs Frances Simpson 3 Hunt Close, Morden Road, London SE3 0AH PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO ‘THE MUSIC CLUB OF LONDON’ AND INCLUDE SAE FOR RETURN OF TICKETS

– 24 – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE David Edwards The Mastersingers and the Music Club of London presented a joint concert of music by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff at the beautiful home of Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis, 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London on February 29th to a large and enthusiastic audience.

v

The programme comprised operatic and instrumental music by both composers and gave the opportunity for the following outstanding young artists to demonstrate their ability and potential: Ilona Domnic, Natalya Romaniw, Mariya Krywaniuk (sopranos), Miriam Sharrad (mezzo-soprano), Adam Tunnicliffe and Charne Rochford (tenors), Nicholas Lester (baritone) and Pauls Putnins (bass-baritone); Nazrin Rashidova (violin), Alice Turner and Tamriko Sakvarelidze (piano). The Music Director was Kelvin Lim and David Edwards presented the programme which had been devised by Ludmilla Andrew. Russian repertoire was a new departure for Mastersingers artists and showed the continuing diversity of Artistic Director Malcolm Rivers’ programming. The Wagner connection remains strong, since both Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff were well-versed in Wagner’s music.

– 25 – Tchaikovsky was a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1863 and attended all six of Wagner’s concerts in St. Petersburg in 1863. He much admired Lohengrin and, particularly, Tannhäuser for their orchestration and Isolde’s Liebestod impressed him in concert (without a solo soprano). When Tchaikovsky heard the complete opera in Berlin in 1883 he was very disappointed to find how the human voice had been integrated into the symphonic texture of the music.

He was present at the inaugural Bayreuth Festival in 1876, reporting as a music critic for a Russian journal, but clearly didn’t relish the experience, finding the text and the drama impenetrable. “All those Wotans and Brünnhildes were so impossible and un-human” as characters. However Tchaikovsky wrote of a “vague recollection of many strikingly beautiful musical features, especially of a symphonic kind” and of his admiration for Wagner’s “tremendous talent and his incredibly rich technique” . He concluded that his six days in Bayreuth had “left me greatly exhausted, but at the same time it has also left me with the wish to continue my study of this most complicated work of music ever written” . – 26 – Rachmaninoff first visited Bayreuth on his honeymoon in 1902 and saw Der Ring, Der fliegende Holländer and Parsifal . The musical language of Rachmaninoff’s opera Francesca da Rimini, composed in 1904/5 seems to exhibit a strong Wagnerian influence, though no more stage works were to follow from his pen. The composer again attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1932, early in Winifred’s controversial regime. Ever a sombre and laconic man, Rachmaninoff’s reactions to what he witnessed are unrecorded. The Mastersingers, The Music Club of London and the Richard Strauss Society will be presenting another concert at 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace, by kind permission of Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis, on April 12th, featuring music by Richard Strauss from his operas Arabella, Ariadne auf Naxos, Elektra, Die Aegyptische Helena and Die Frau ohne Schatten . Tickets are £25 or £20 to Wagner Society members, Music Club of London members and Strauss Society members, and are available from Mrs Frances Simpson, 3 Hunt Close, Morden Road, London SE3 0AH. Please make cheques payable to ‘The Music Club of London’ and include an SAE for return of tickets.

– 27 – CBSO TRISTAN UND ISOLDE AT BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY HALL Paul Dawson-Bowling Lohengrin under Andris Nelsons last year had been a very special performance but Lohengrin presents radically different challenges from Tristan und Isolde . The special qualities needed for grasping and setting forth the overarching integrity of mature Wagner and the ‘musical prose’ of Tristan und Isolde were not much in evidence on March 3rd. There is a story about Anja Silja, perhaps apocryphal although it has the ring of truth, that she could reckon up a conductor’s potential as a lover from his way with the prelude of Tristan und Isolde . If so, I wonder what she would have made of Andris Nelsons? The prelude began well enough, dawning out of nothing, and Nelsons brought out the essential strangeness of its first four notes. However Wagner has indicated no alteration whatever in his fundamental tempo despite passing modifications, and this performance was nothing but a continuous change, an ongoing accelerando. There is a point when the strings rise up into music of hitherto unimagined sweetness, soaring and sinking in sixths and thirds, and here Felix Mottl, that old master, actually marked his score (for copying to his players) with the words, “Niemals eilen. Eher breiter werden!” (Never to hurry! Even rather to broaden more!). Furtwängler still remains incomparable here after almost 60 years, but Andris Nelsons was by then on a sprint to the finish, with about as much feeling as a discarded skate boot hurtling over the ice. I hoped that perhaps things would improve with the singers’ arrival, but neither Lioba Braun (Isolde) or Christianne Stotijn (Brangäne) were the right artists to rescue the performance. Lioba Braun had triumphed as Ortrud last year, but her timbre now seemed pallid and white, acrid and yet unsteady, and additionally she sounded too small scale. The Brangäne though warmer, shared her uningratiating timbre and her unsteadiness. The men, Stephen Gould as Tristan, Ben Johnson as the young sailor and Brett Polegato as Kurwenal, were far more telling and on a bigger scale. Even if Stephen Gould’s portly amble onto the stage at first created a bizarre impression, he rescued his portrayal through his powerful theatricalism, but nothing could rescue the performance from the contribution of the conductor and orchestra. Technically the orchestra was good enough, but there was little colour or inner phrasing. Melodic lines had all the suppleness and expressiveness of long heavy bars of iron; and the death motive in Act I, where Furtwängler long ago taught us to discover infinite darkness and a harbinger of doom, was now no more than loud notes on the trombones. The inner worlds of Tristan and Isolde when they meet, along with the thrum and tremor of pent up psychic energy, the whole awesome encounter with the unimaginable – all so beautifully expounded under the musical direction of Stephen Barlow at the Grange Opera last summer – these things degenerated in Birmingham into polished chromium and glass. So what of the rest of the work? I do not know. I have often made the round trip of 390 miles from East Kent to Birmingham for Wagner, and in the case of Nelson’s Lohengrin , Opera North’s Das Rheingold , and Die Meistersinger both from WNO and Covent Garden, the rewards have been enormous. This time I left after Act I, unable to convince myself of any good reasons for another journey home through the small hours. My earlier drive was alleviated by whimsical memories and reflections of Longborough, where Anthony Negus has been progressively revealing a truly profound understanding of mature Wagner. Perhaps we dare hope for a Longborough Tristan und Isolde with him after Martin Graham has completed his magnificent project of Der Ring . – 28 – BOOK REVIEW: WAGNER’S WOMEN BY EVA RIEGER Chris Argent It is quite difficult to think of many operas where the storyline is not driven by gender difference. Some composers make more of that difference than others, among whom Richard Wagner and Giacomo Puccini are arguably supreme, with Verdi not far behind. Equally, it is not easy to think of any composer with such a long train of muses as Richard Wagner who have indulged him and vivified his life and works. Eva Rieger explores the relationship between the principal female characters of Wagner’s mature oeuvre and the women who populated his life, either for real or in his imagination. The prelude to Rieger’s journey through Wagner’s life and the characters he creates makes the all too obvious point that his oeuvre is suffused by subjective experiences, and who is to say that his time on Earth was not marked by an extraordinary series of dramatic events? Of course such experiences engrave their effect on the individual, whether poet, composer or man in the street. She addresses the question, implicitly posed by Bernard Shaw a century ago: how could such a scoundrel produce such sublime works? There can be little doubt that Wagner was permanently interested in the mysteries of the relationships between men and women, and the perpetual battle fought by all good 19th century Christian men to ensure that their women were not only subservient but were also prevented from exercising their own genius, for example Alma Mahler and countless other women who were naturally artistic. The list is endless. Extrapolating, the author asserts with complete justification that the erotic impulse was a dominant feature in Wagner’s psychological make-up. He was not short of testosterone and the manipulation of his sexuality played a major role in his life, particularly in the way in which it was expressed in reality and then reflected back into the dramas which he conceived. The prelude to the book spends some time exploring those feminine characteristics that Wagner found particularly commendable, eg (and in particular) their voluntary sacrifices for the sake of the men in their lives. One wonders whether he was critical of Beethoven for bringing Leonora into being, a strong character who took on the male characters and beat them at their own devious games. It may be that Wagner was partly influenced by Beethoven in creating Ortrud, an undoubtedly powerful figure who was allowed to run rings around most of the characters in Lohengrin before Wagner felt it necessary to provide for her come-uppance. Ms Rieger suggests that there is a mystery waiting to be unravelled as to why Wagner created a series of strong-willed female characters such as Brünnhilde, Senta, Fricka and Sieglinde (though many of Wagner’s female characters were at heart quite weak: witness Elsa, Eva, Elizabeth, and perhaps Kundry) despite his reluctance to acknowledge their moral superiority. The author asserts that Wagner’s musical language was based on principles in which emotional states, (or “affects” as they are termed) could be expressed by particular precise musical devices which evolved during the 17th and 18th centuries and had indeed been categorized and classified. Those affects with positive emotional contexts are

– 29 – termed affecti jucundi and include such as conditions as love, hate, happiness, courage, serenity while the negative mode, the affecti molesti cover such emotions as pity, envy, shame and fear, anger and boredom. Wagner’s scores show that he was a master of conjuring a whole panoply of affecti through the deployment of such well-proven musical idioms as descending chromatic steps, specific intervals, leaps, pauses, the use of major and minor modes, etc. The rich spectrum of musical devices that Wagner uses to infer an equally rich collection of emotional states and relationships is explored in detail by the author and for the Wagnerian who is used to merely absorbing the impact of Wagner’s incredible library of affecti or emotional reactions a close study of her own scholarship is bound to pay handsome dividends in throwing new light on the works that we feel we know so well. The way in which Kothner in Die Meistersinger checks the attendance register and how David recites the rules of mastersinging has been known to leave some listeners cold, but those episodes when examined closely turn out to be finely tuned with small and sometimes imperceptible variations in the musical flow – almost à la Philip Glass _ that impart warmth and interest to these stanzas. Much of Wagner’s palette depended on musical techniques developed as early as the 6th century, such as the Phrygian mode described as indicative of the wild and warlike (and therefore masculine) and the Lydian mode as weak and feminine. In those distant days of the 19th century, homosexuality was denoted as degenerate and evil (attracting the affecti molesti musical modes – if depicted at all), while lesbianism was unconsidered as women were without – in the eyes of the male of the species – any independent sexuality. In consequence, evil women (such as Ortrud) were allocated ‘male’ attributes even though by so doing men were debased – a consequence seemingly not recognized by Wagner or indeed Ms Rieger. It is not too preposterous to assume that Richard Wagner suffered from a multiplicity of physiological and psychological conditions affecting his well-being, his attitudes and his outputs – both literary and musical. For a start, he was uncertain as to who his father was and, accordingly, whether he had Jewish blood in his veins. Those same veins carried a superabundance of testosterone at levels that were maintained throughout his life leading to his pursuit of a bevy of attractive and, in many cases, intelligent women. He particularly targeted women whom he judged were capable of unstinting and uncritical adulation and service. Whether or not such women were married seemed to be of no significance as the Master was not afflicted with an overdeveloped sense of morality. He also bore a violent dislike of the Jewish race, which was basically a socially acceptable outlook in 19th century Germany. His attitude was probably derived from his suspicion that his father was his mother’s second husband Ludwig Geyer. To add to all that baggage which kept him company throughout his life he suffered from a skin condition, erysipelas, which Paul Dawson-Bowling avers must have caused him untold discomfort and accounted for his decidedly odd choice of clothes to wear next to his skin, though that does not explain his predilection for silk and satin drapes for his private quarters. It would be pushing it to attempt to equate any of the female characters which Wagner created to populate his music dramas with the procession of women who metaphorically crossed his threshold. Nevertheless one can glimpse features of his womenfolk in his operatic characters, especially the self-sacrificing Minna Planer to whom he was married for so long and to whom he was, in his way, so faithful. Eva Rieger explores the elements of Wagner’s operatic creations in chronological order, examining each in succession both as straight drama, but also more perceptively in the context of the musical web which the composer wove to bring a superabundant life to

– 30 – each work. She relates the characteristics of each opera to Wagner’s own development as poet, philosopher, composer and publicist, as well as to whichever woman was pre- eminent in his life at the time. The author’s analysis demonstrates just how much Wagner was a creature of his time in the patriarchal Western world in the 19th century where women were expected to be subservient and not to rock the boat. Indeed even a cursory examination of most of Wagner’s compositions for the stage demonstrates that he expected women to surrender their freedom (such little as they had), their personalities and their desires in the service of their ‘man’, even to the extent of dying to redeem their lord and master. Although it seems reasonable to assume that Eva Rieger is a feminist, and that as such she has every possible reason to be enraged by Wagner’s treatment of those of her own gender, there is not a hint of a rant in her book, rather a reasoned analysis of each relationship and the impact of each relationship on the evolution of the female characters inhabiting Wagner’s scores. Although the book is titled Wagner and His Women , Ms Rieger evidently found it necessary by the way she designed its structure with a fairly brief examination of the story of each opera to throw some light on the origins and characteristics of the major male roles – the heroes and gods. What emerges from this aspect is (as one might expect) that facets of Wagner’s own complex personality emerge in the portraits he paints of the likes of Wotan, Siegfried, Sachs, Tristan, Tannhäuser and Parsifal. This does not detract from the overall flow of the book, but rather helps to set Wagner’s preoccupation with the opposite sex in context, and certainly helps anyone new to Wagner’s operas find their way through his stage works. The author makes much of whether a character is essentially feminine or masculine as seen by the way Wagner allocates musically-determined feminine or masculine language (colour/instruments/emphasis) and a considerable range of accepted musical idioms). Almost all the macho male characters are decidedly male in their presentation, but with some curious exceptions. The almost free hero Siegmund is not, according to Ms Rieger, masculine in nature because he declines to abandon Sieglinde and join the dead heroes in Valhalla. Accordingly, he is allocated some meltingly beautiful music. Wagner’s portrayal of Wotan is also quite bizarre. Throughout most of the Ring he is presented as an unscrupulous rogue and is specifically recognized in Siegfried as the other side of the coin to Alberich. Yet he too is awarded such gorgeous ‘feminized’ music so that neither heart nor brain register him as a rogue just as immoral as Alberich (if not more so). One suspects that, having such a soft spot for Wotan, seeing himself in the god, Wagner could not bring himself to write discordant lines that would delineate Wotan’s character more accurately. For the musically trained reader, Ms Rieger’s analysis demonstrates Wagner’s incredible ability to absorb and use so many elements of the musical thesaurus of his day: arpeggios on the harp to signify a superior moral character, upper-scale woodwind for femininity, lower-scale brass (especially the trombone) for masculinity, the use of ascending and descending tritones, of dotted rhythms, of clusters of triads and, of course, diminished sevenths and augmented fifths. Close attention to the author’s analysis makes it clear that she is sensitive (one might say super sensitive) to any nuance in Wagner’s libretti and compositions which relish or emphasize the superiority of the male without fully acknowledging that Wagner lived in the 19th century when such attitudes were almost universal. However, she does emphasize that Wagner was impervious to the idea that a ‘pure’ woman (the likes of Elisabeth or Elsa) could ever wish for or experience sexual desire or passion – doubtless

– 31 – a deliberately cultivated masculine belief designed to build up the man’s ego. Wagner’s musical treatment of the ‘ghastly’ Ortrud, a politically-motivated feminine character prepared to confront the well-guarded fortress of male domination and privilege, arose naturally from the prevalent attitudes in pre-unified Germany as in Victorian England. We are assured that, because of Brünnhilde’s proactive personality, she cannot possibly become a loving partner to Siegfried and for like reasons Siegmund has to die (page 127) rather than live and love (though her thesis is not always consistent as she also maintains that Siegmund carries strong feminine characteristics – page 124). The point is also made that the belligerent Valkyries must have seemed quite shocking to 19th century audiences and it seems more than likely that Wagner, in peopling his Ring cycle with such brash, effervescent characters, was being deliberately provocative. It is a complement of the extrovert nature of the Valkyries that Siegmund can repudiate the supposed joys of Valhalla which would seem barren to a character with love in his heart. Rieger’s analysis of Act III of Die Walküre is spot on: how can a loving father possibly seek to shame his favourite daughter in such a callous fashion? It is, though, pushing the analysis beyond the reasonable to suggest (as does the author on page 130) that Wotan orders Brünnhilde to protect Hunding rather than not to protect Siegmund. The punishment of his favourite daughter is clearly driven by the recognition of his own connivance in his favourite son’s death, mirroring Wagner’s preference for his son to any of his daughters. It is no great leap for the author to ascribe the plot development in this Act of the Ring to the parallels that Wagner must have drawn to his relationships with Minna, his wife (= Fricka), Mathilde Wesendonck, his muse and imagined amour (= Sieglinde), her husband, Otto (= Hunding) and himself (= an amalgam of Wotan and Siegmund). With the birth of a son, Siegfried, Wagner was moved to lavish all his pride and joy on the character of Siegfried in the second evening of Der Ring , though it beggars understanding why the composer decided to paint a hero who was so uncouth and lacking any graciousness. Both Wagner and Ms Rieger see Siegfried as a knight in shining armour beyond compare, a ‘superb’ hero whose exploits can leave many a commentator unimpressed and yet posited as the “most perfect man imaginable”. Although Ms Rieger’s book is focused on the female of the species she spends some considerable time examining Siegfried’s character, even to the extent of implying that Wagner treats Siegfried’s sword as a phallic symbol whereby he can subjugate the women whom he encounters, explaining perhaps his shocking treatment of Brünnhilde on her rock. To make Siegfried a ‘super’-man Wagner provides him with a hunting horn so that, like British Royalty, he is well equipped to kill animals and birds. Certain observations by the author conjure up reactions in the reader with a long memory, for instance her translation of Siegfried’s rejection of sustenance offered by Mime while forging the sword, Siegfried commenting “Away with that porridge… pap won’t bake a sword.” And yet Richard Jones had tomato sauce to do the job. We see too an interesting interpretation of Fafner as the dragon wherein Wagner uses Mime to describe masculine fear of female genitalia, portrayed in Act II of Siegfried as a “dark cave mouth in which dwells a dreadful savage dragon… that will swallow you up”. Later in the same chapter, Ms Rieger suggests that in the 19th century woman was equated with nature “thereby underlining her passivity”, but that parallel seems insupportable given that nature must have been as fierce and destructive then as it is now. It is also a little surprising that the author suggests that Brünnhilde saves Sieglinde from a “sense of care” whereas it would be more apposite to propose that the Valkyrie saves her (and her foetus) from Sieglinde’s sense of helplessness. Developing the thesis

– 32 – of the “superb hero”, Siegfried sets out for “new heroic deeds” – like raping his own wife, admittedly unwittingly rather as Michael Jackson’s doctor was improbably found to be guilty of “involuntary manslaughter”. The author seems to accept Siegfried’s heroic status as a given and quotes musical chapter and verse to show how Wagner had built up this aura of an invincible hunk of unthinking Aryan superman. Many commentators have wrestled with the problem that Wagner laid within the Ring libretto in positing Siegfried as the ultimate redeemer and in allowing Brünnhilde to be demeaned even though it is the latter who atones for the guilt of the gods and restores the world to equilibrium. The dilemma is not even addressed by Ms Rieger, though she demonstrates that Wagner ensured by his use of musical clichés that it is Wotan and Siegfried who are given magisterial status as befits the heroic male while Brünnhilde is merely given a specifically restricted emancipating role. The list of Wagner’s womenfolk is substantial and few of them were not targets for Wagner’s amorous proclivities. Among the many just three stand out as being significantly influential in Wagner’s life and his output, namely Minna Planer, Mathilde Wesendonck and Cosima von Bulow, and it is no surprise that Ms Rieger focuses a great deal of attention on the impact of these three, demonstrating where the nature of the characters in the composer’s operas are most dictated by Wagner’s relations with the target of his desires. The impact of Frau Wesendonck probably cannot be exaggerated: that she declined to surrender to Wagner’s blandishments to abandon her husband to whom she was clearly devoted caused Wagner to realize that renunciation was probably as significant a step in his evolution as a composer (and as a human being) as redemption, particularly as renunciation was in accord with his Schopenhauerian leanings. Such a deduction is of course continually reflected in his operas. Cosima von Bulow too was mightily influential in Wagner’s personal development. A quotation from Cosima Wagner pertaining to the scene in Götterdämmerung where Siegfried is waylaid by the Rhinemaidens can provoke some mirth in the reader as it explicitly assigns wisdom to the nixies “as they anoint him to destruction” whereas all they are doing is taunting him just as they had taunted Alberich, and wisdom is not what one would attribute to them with all their careless talk about the Gold on the first evening. While it is easy to poke fun at Cosima, her role in the Wagner story is dealt with in some detail. There is evidence that Cosima influenced Richard Wagner when he wrote, in the context of Siegfried’s personality, that “Woman is to acknowledge and admire the intellectual greatness of man… ”. Given the personality deficiencies that Siegfried exposes on his journey through Der Ring . As a liberal-minded citizen born in the 20th century with convictions that all men and women are born equal, that comes as something of a shock. What also seems somewhat surprising, given Wagner’s Buddhist leanings, is the super-abundance of violence within Der Ring , and a not insubstantial number of deaths in the rest of his oeuvre: Senta, Elisabeth, Elsa (presumably), Tannhäuser, Telramund all succumb. Thank goodness Wagner did not have Beckmesser commit suicide after having been so publicly humiliated. The treatment meted out by Ms Rieger to Wagner’s other music dramas follows much the same pattern as for Der Ring and is just as illuminating for those who dote on his incredible musical output. Even for the musically untutored reader this book provides a fascinating insight into the stimuli which made Richard Wagner what he was and led him to create what are arguably for some and definitively for many the Western world’s most significant, entrancing and enduring compositions for the operatic stage.

– 33 – BAYREUTH TICKETS Andrea Buchanan Shortly before Christmas in my capacity as Secretary of the Wagner Society I received a letter from the Bayreuth Festival Management dated 14th December 2011. It stated that they wished to inform us of “certain important changes concerning the allocation of tickets to the Bayreuth Festival”. The letter explained that in the reports produced as a result of investigations by the Bavarian General Accounting Office and the German Federal Court of Auditors, the current system of ticket allocation was explicitly criticised and various recommendations were made in order to allocate tickets with greater fairness and to exclude the preferential treatment of certain groups and individuals. As a result, the supervisory committee of the Festival decided to make some changes for the coming year. This decision was taken on 18th October 2011. As a result of these changes, it would no longer be possible to “accord special interest groups or tour operators any privileges in the allocation of tickets”. Bluntly, this meant that no Wagner Societies would get any ticket allocations in future. They helpfully noted that Wagner Society members could still order tickets for the Festival as individuals. Naturally, this letter was a great shock to all the Wagner Societies, coming as it did so long after the decision was made, and after we had applied for our 2012 ticket allocation. Jeremy Rowe, then Chair of the Wagner Society, wrote to all of you to inform you of this development shortly after the letter was received. Contact was made immediately with both the Friends of Bayreuth and the International Verband. Neither group had known about this situation in advance. The Friends assured us that they were not affected (and the Society has since received six tickets for the ballot through our Friends membership) and the Verband expressed their commitment to representing all their members in discussions and negotiations with the Bayreuth management. The committee of the RWVI have thus far succeeded in assuring the tickets for all Bursary winners for the future. For this we are all very grateful. At the beginning of April they will hold a meeting with the Bayreuth management to express the reactions of their members from all over the world. We have been invited to contribute our views and of course we will do so. Many Societies have written to the Bayreuth management about the situation and, with justification, have complained in the strongest terms. We made a decision not to do this, partly as the result of a request from Professor Eva Märtson, President of the RWVI, not to react in a vexatious manner as it could do more harm than good. We await the outcome of the discussions in April and are resigned to the situation for this year at least. Naturally we on the Committee were not happy with the situation, in particular with the unfair perception that Wagner Societies constituted a privileged group and the abrupt and unhelpful manner in which the communication of the decision was carried out. We reasoned however that there was little we could do about it and that it would not be sensible to alienate the Bayreuth management, should the situation improve in future years – as we very much hope it will. As a result of this I know that many of you are being offered tickets from the waiting list, so there is an upside to this situation.

– 34 – NORTH AMERICAN WAGNER SOCIETIES’ LETTER TO BAYREUTH Extracts from a letter sent to the management of the Bayreuth Festival on 4th January 2012 from the 12 Wagner Societies of North America. Our many thousands of members are shocked by the decision to stop the allocation of tickets to Wagner societies. We plan for many years and travel great distances to participate in the Bayreuth Festival and to support it in many ways Wagner societies are non-profit organizations whose minimal membership fees and donations from members are used to defray the costs of their promotional work. They are maintained by the love and commitment of dedicated volunteers, whose only interest is to maintain and encourage the great operas of Richard Wagner. Wagner societies explore and bring this essential part of German culture worldwide. Moreover, many societies contribute donations to the Gesellschaft der Freunde von Bayreuth as part of their commitment to maintaining the excellence of the Festival. Wagner societies have been, as far as is known, scrupulous in following the dictates of the Festival management with regard to the ticket allocation process. While scalping of tickets to the Festival and black market ticket sales are well known, members of Wagner societies decry this practice and exercise great care in their own allocation of tickets to members to ensure that their organizations never fall into this practice. We really do understand the value of fairness in the distribution of tickets, that tour operators and others who profit from their activities should not have any special treatment, so we would be more than willing to continue to make sure our that tickets are distributed with the same fairness as always. For Wagner society members, especially those who volunteer their time and energy to their organizations, Bayreuth is still seen as the mecca for lovers of Wagner’s music. Trips to the Festival, for many, are the highpoint of their musical experience. We ask therefore that you reconsider the decision taken on October 18th and allow Wagner societies to apply for a yearly allocation of tickets, on a basis to be determined. We also request that, at the present time, the applicants for the 2012 season who have been hoping for many months to be able to attend in 2012 be allowed to send in their individual orders even though the deadline for submission has passed. We look forward to hearing from you and moving forward together to further the renowned Bayreuth Festival on the highest levels.

WAGNER SOCIETY OF NEW YORK LECTURES AT BAYREUTH The Wagner Society of New York’s 2013 programme of lectures will run from 10:30am to noon on the dates of the following performances at the Arvena Kongress Hotel: August 24th Der fliegende Holländer (new production) August 25th Lohengrin August 26th Tristan und Isolde August 27th Tannhäuser August 28th Parsifal Tickets are 12 euros per lecture, payable at the door. No advance reservation is necessary. The lecturer is John J.H. Muller, who presented the 2010 and 2011 Bayreuth lectures. He has been a member of The Juilliard School music history faculty for 30 years and is a past department chairman.

– 35 – A CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD BERKELEY-STEELE Jeremy D Rowe It's a long way from Worcester Cathedral to Fuzhou in China, but Richard Berkeley-Steele's operatic journey has taken him that distance and more. We met at the Royal Festival Hall's Skylon restaurant and looked at a very grey February London landscape whilst talking about travelling and singing in warmer and more exotic climes. When his treble voice in Worcester Cathedral choir broke, Richard found he had a great tenor voice, and went off to the Royal Northern College to study. On leaving he developed some of the Italian repertoire, but it wasn't long before his heldentenor ability started to become noticed. As a young man he covered Siegmund for Scottish Opera, and Lohengrin for ENO, although at the time of accepting this latter contract he had never even heard the part all through! It was whilst singing Jimmy in Mahagonny at Chemnitz that his first big break came. He was invited to audition for the role of Tannhäuser, and had just 12 months to learn the part. He then shared the role at Chemnitz, his first big leading part. His next big break came back in London whilst singing Tannhäuser for Chelsea Opera Group in a concert version at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Speight Jenkins was in the audience, and the rest is history. Speight was working at Hamburg, and invited Richard to join him there. As he said, “You don't turn down an offer to sing in one of Germany's ‘A’ houses!”. His travels then took him to Adelaide for the 1999 Ring . He sang Loge and covered all the other tenor roles. In Adelaide he worked closely with Lionel Friend, who he describes as “one of our great Wagnerians”, and from whom he learned a great deal. Speight Jenkins invited him to Seattle to cover Siegfried for the 2001 Ring with Jane Eaglen. Alan Woodrow sustained a bad leg injury immediately before the first night, and sang from the wings with Richard miming the part. Jenkins was more than happy with Richard's mastery of the part and thereafter he sang all through the remaining two cycles. From the Seattle Ring his career took off. He went to Toronto to sing in Richard Bradshaw's new Ring which opened the impressive new Four Seasons Opera House. It was there that he found himself singing Loge opposite Susan Bullock's Brünnhilde. As he puts it, “it was love at first sight” and a great operatic partnership was born. Over the years he has been lucky to have worked with many of the great Wagnerian names: Jeffrey Tate, Harry Kupfer and especially Lionel Friend. He speaks very warmly of his debt to Lionel. “Every day he would come into rehearsal, always looking for something new to discover, constantly looking for more.” Via Lionel he was gaining the Reggie Goodall experience. Looking back on his career, he says he was lucky to be offered so many of his parts: rather than struggling to be noticed, “I was asked!” He spent two seasons with Nick Braithwaite at Piggot's Music Camp where he worked mostly on two roles, Tristan and Parsifal, although he has not yet sung Parsifal in public. His time at Piggot's ensured his complete immersion in Wagner, and he came to recognise the great lyric qualities in Wagner's writing, as well as the more famous noisy moments. In the autumn of 2011 he travelled to China and worked with the National Chinese Opera Company based in Beijing. The company travelled to the less-known city of – 36 – Fuzhou to stage Tannhäuser at the first All-China Opera Festival. Despite the rather conservative cultural traditions of China this production was fairly erotic in parts, and the audiences loved it. After some initial hesitation, unsure as to whether it was appropriate to applaud, the audiences went wild at the end. Opera is completely state-funded in China, and the Minister of Culture is herself an accomplished pianist. The Beijing company has a full-time professional chorus of 100, and a huge and extremely outstanding orchestra (“Imagine 100 Lang-Langs!”). Richard was particularly struck by the sensitivity of the instrumentalists, and the outstanding conducting. Almost all the vocal soloists are home-grown, although some have studied in Europe. Fuzhou opera house is only four years old and has terrific acoustics. The company from Beijing travelled with their orchestra, and the rest of the cast were Chinese. Richard was the only westerner on the stage. Standards of performance were very high, but Richard's were higher, and at the end of the All-China Festival he was presented with the prize for "Best Performer" by the cultural ministry of China. 2013 will see Richard back in Melbourne for Der Ring , singing Loge again with his wife Susan Bullock as Brünnhilde. Richard and Susan particularly enjoy the times they get to work together, and are able to go home together at the end of the performance, but it does not happen very often. When we met, Sue had just flown in from Frankfurt, and was busy at rehearsals; Richard is clearly in love with her, but reconciled to their two career paths sometimes crossing, but often sending them to opposite ends of the Earth. “Thankfully,” he said, “we can Skype, and we usually do after a performance.” Richard is a modest man who has achieved a lot and he was reticent about his Chinese recognition. It was a privilege to spend lunch talking with a great singer. RB-S by numbers: 38 performances of Tannhäuser; 23 Siegmunds, 21 Siegfrieds; 12 Melots, 7 Tristans, 6 Loges and 5 Lohengrins. Still waiting for the phone to ring for Parsifal! NEW SOCIETY WEBSITE GOES LIVE Ken Sunshine Unforeseen organisational changes and chance happenings often combine to produce new opportunities. Thus it was in my case when I agreed to help create a new Society website, following the resignation of Ian Jones. We are now back at www.wagnersociety.org with a brand new look (described by a young relative as “early 90s”!) Here is the Home Page for you to judge. Currently featured links include forthcoming events, Wagner News and Wagner News Extra, History and Constitution. On page 38 a letter from Professor Karel Werner is likely to provoke a lively debate, for which a forum section on the website will provide an ideal medium. This website must be governed by members’ needs. Let us know via [email protected] what is irrelevant, what is missing. Do you agree with my relative on appearance? Do you have ideas on how the site should develop? Your feedback is vital.

– 37 – WAGNER PRODUCTIONS: MYTHOLOGY OR POLITICS? Professor Karel Werner I value Paul Dawson-Bowling’s articles which give us excellent surveys of Wagnerian productions and analyses of individual performers’ accomplishments. I am less impressed when he now shows willingness to endorse the staging of a Wagner work by a modern producer who serves himself rather than the composer. I am even less impressed when he strays into the dangerous waters of political interpretations. The case in point is his belief that Götz Friedrich’s staging of Der Ring with its “damning Marxist critique of capitalism” which once “seemed a historical curiosity ... [but] has now acquired an urgent and compelling relevance thanks to the worldwide catastrophes of capitalism”. Paul Dawson- Bowling then concludes that this is “a renewed vindication of Marx for having in many ways been right all along” ( Der Ring des Nibelungen in Berlin , Wagner News 204). Eleven years ago Paul Dawson-Bowling endorsed the view, after quoting James Levine, that “the producer’s job is to serve Wagner and not himself” and gave “seven good reasons” why this is so (also for operas by other composers – viz. ‘Wagner production: conflicting philosophies Or Whose Fault Is It All Really?’ Wagner News 82). The following is a summary of them: (1) Updating does not work. (2) “We are deeply involved if these pieces are presented as they are”. (3) The “results [of updating] so often clash with the music”. (4) “Nowadays, post-Freud, and even more post-Jung, we understand increasingly how myth works in its timeless fascination” – in Wagner’s words (Opera and Drama): “Myth is true for all time and ... is inexhaustible through the ages”. (5) Audiences still flock to operas “in spite of [updated] productions. We know that it is these productions of Wagner or nothing so we put up with them”. (6) Producer’s opera tends to alienate and drive away some of the greatest musicians (Solti, Carlos Kleiber). (7) “Much of the trouble rests in the tendency to believe that new is better ... with a preference [of producers] for the .. . paradoxical and for eye-catching effects even when these do anything but serve the composer”. Professionals may need novelty, but others go to Wagner for catharsis, “that ordering and balancing of emotions that Wagner’s dramas provide...”. Politicising timeless mythology in Wagner’s operas can only upset those emotions in viewers who hold differing views from those which the producers seek to impose on them, while those who share them miss the chance of experiencing the deeper dimension of the myth and its catharsis-like effect. Conceptualising mythological messages is never unequivocal. That is true even for Götz Friedrich’s imagery. His Alberich, rather than being a “grim capitalist”, is more reminiscent of the ‘big brother’ of 1984 and his conception of the Ring fits better the Soviet Union with its Chernobyl catastrophe and its Marx-Leninist ‘Nomenklatura’-Dämmerung’ in 1989. Comparing capitalism and Marxism requires greater conceptual clarity than is usually displayed. Capitalism is an economic system which works well only if its drive is kept under control by a well functioning democratic system; capitalist failures are a sign of weakened commitment to democratic principles among politicians and their getting too mixed up with big business. If democracy is abandoned, capitalism may turn into a fascist dictatorship, as we saw in the last century. Marxism is a political and economic ideology which can function for a time only in a dictatorship, purportedly by the proletariat, in fact by a self-perpetuating clique (‘nomenklatura’), until its economic incompetence brings about its collapse. Discussions of this kind are, no doubt, out of place in this magazine and should be, I think, ‘censored out’ if any contributor includes them, but Paul Dawson-Bowling’s regrettable remarks need a printed reply. He also recommends us to forget the oncoming ROH Ring and go to Berlin. I would say: forget Berlin and go to New York or Seattle, if you can. [email protected] – 38 – BAYREUTH BOX OFFICE: A CHANGE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? Colin Humphreys The years one has had to wait for tickets have long demonstrated that the Bayreuth box office and actuarial science are at odds. However, the recent announcement (Wagner News 204) that more than 320,000 applications were received for 57,750 tickets in 2012 does throw some light on the situation. With no Ring (actually it’s only 40,425 tickets usually if it counts as one, but there are probably more applications in normal years) arithmetic suggests that it should take 5 to 6 years to succeed with a Kartenbüro Bestellschein . That it takes 11 years indicates, simplistically, that about half of the house is spoken for before one’s form even reaches the box office. “Jetzt wird mir alles almost klar.” Of course, as we don’t know how much of the house was allocated to tour operators and Wagner Societies it is impossible to gauge the extent to which the public will be better off. Whether the change is a panic move by the management or a deal to get the authorities off its back, it must be a change in the right direction. Presumably cutting back the allocations to the Freunde von Bayreuth and corporate sponsors was not an option. What is really needed is a break in the non-virtuous circle of Bayreuth bookings: people applying whether they want to go or not in a particular year because they know it takes forever to be successful. They then have to keep on applying because they will otherwise drop off the queue and have to start all over again. I know Wagner is different, but it seems to me that the overwhelming demand for tickets isn’t really genuine. After accepting credit cards (very un-German things) Bayreuth should go a step further and sell its tickets on line like Salzburg, Covent Garden and Longborough. [email protected]

JULIAN BLACK CONDUCTS ARDENTE OPERA Mastersingers alumnus Julian Black who shared accompanists’ duties with Kelvin Lim for the Mastersingers’ “Living in Exile” weekend at Aldeburgh in May (as well as the cover of Wagner News 202: July 2011) will conduct a programme of Delius for Ardente Opera at St John’s Church, Waterloo at 7.30 on 18th and 19th May. The Delius Piano Concerto will be followed by a concert performance of Fennimore and Gerda. Tickets: £22 / £18 (concession) / £10 (student) are available securely online via Paypal at www.ardenteopera.org or telephone 07864 057760 Photo: Peter West [email protected]

– 39 – CAMBRIDGE OPERA HANDBOOKS GUIDE TO TRISTAN UND ISOLDE Meirion Bowen The so-called “Tristan Chord” is the prime object of Steven Huebner’s attention. He points out that the music of Tristan presents a bold antithesis to the classical idea of sonata form. While writing it Wagner resembled Orpheus in that he was not allowed to look back. The music presses forward in search of formal possibilities that seem permanently open-ended “a radical aspect (which, far more than its much-vaunted chromaticism) had an even greater influence on modern music (Pierre Boulez's preoccupation with permanently evolving, non-repetitive forms, for instance).” John Deathridge quotes a letter which Wagner wrote to Liszt in which he ends “Then I'll cover myself over with the ‘black flag’ flying at the end so I can die.” The flag was amongst the first detail of the Tristan legend to catch his attention, suggesting that he had a different idea of the opera's eventual outcome. “If the ship is flying a white flag, Isolde is on board, if the flag is black, she is not. As the ship comes into view, it is flying a white flag, whereupon Isolde of the White Hands, jealous of her husband's dependence on King Marke's wife, tells him the flag is black. Mistakenly believing that he will never again see the Isolde he really desires, Tristan dies of grief. This relates to Wagner's own situation in that “the beautiful dream of love, beyond the pale of a loveless marriage with my wife Minna, can at least be conjured up in a work of art, even though I will never enjoy the sight of the white flag, concealed for ever from me by the public bond to my lawful spouse.” Then follows “The ultimate private art”, which is about the links – stylistic and expressive between the Wesendonck Lieder and the music-drama and indeed the expansion of the idea of the lied into something much larger in scale. On the one hand the lieder were the “ultimate private art” whose order was changed twice before being sent off for publication. They were essentially “an expression of an adulterous passion that Wagner was at pains to keep private. Wagner wanted to explore the nature of the lied to find exactly the right mood of quietist renunciation in Tristan : the wishing-to-be-apart- from-the-world inspired by Schopenhauer which found its equivalent in the famous romantic image, enshrined in the lied since the days of Goethe, of the poet accompanying himself on the lyre, losing himself in improvised song.” Wagner responded to Liszt's gushing thanks for Act I of Tristan : ’You are replying with too much pathos’, almost as if he were snapping someone on a psychiatrist's couch out of a moment of tearful self-pity. His preoccupation with myth is often interpreted as an anticipation of Freud's psychic insights, but “he may well have dismissed psychoanalysis as so much humbug designed specifically to assuage essentially cold hearts protected by their wealth from life's realities.” Tristan und Isolde has become “one of the most alluring planets in the operatic universe simply because it is a love story in extremis. ” Arthur Groos notes that in the early 1850s Wagner asserted that with Der fliegende Holländer he had ceased making opera libretti and become a poet instead, then underscored the claim by publishing his texts not only in conjunction with productions of his operas, but also allowing them to appear as independent works for the book trade. He also observes that the act-structures of the operas, with their penchant for extensive reminiscence and narrative, often praised as reflections of musical forms, also reflect a fashion for modern analytic drama where events that precipitate the crisis occur before the action begins and are progressively revealed as events move towards their climax. – 40 – Groos observes “if narrative represents one major component of the drama's emphasis on subjectivity, continually attempting to ground the principals' consciousness through recollections of their history, there is a complementary process that looks forward: the striving of Tristan and Isolde to define and realize their evolving love which culminates in the dissolution of their sense of self, ie in death.” And subsequently “If the resolution of a contested past during the last moments of a symbolic narrative journey forms the basic structure of Act I, the central episode of Act II, the Liebesnacht or “love- night” in Scene 2 uses as its basis a comparatively simple though highly appropriate lyric genre, that of a dawn-song or Tagelied which typically focuses on the parting at dawn of illicit lovers who frequently lament the ineluctability of day, sometimes with interruptions by a watchman who warns them of impending danger.” Tristan and Isolde invoke a metaphysical journey beyond the division of individuation into a brave new world of night beyond the limits of space and time: ohne Nennen . Groos also notes that Wagner's music remains resolutely unsusceptible to visual exegesis, even within the perspective of the opera as a whole. Thomas Grey quotes Wagner as saying, “I would gladly think of my dramas as ‘deeds of music made visible’. It is the ‘inward matter’ of the music drama that is important, hence its paucity of conventional intrigue and spectacle.” Tristan evolved as a tremendous network of musical motifs, what Wagner described as “almost nothing but music.” Grey constantly emphasises the primacy of sound in the dramatic framework, for “sound, rather than sight, is the natural domain of subjective interiority.” On the other hand, Wagner, responding ironically to a critical essay by WH Riehl, says that “the act of looking” plays a significant role in his music dramas. Wagner suggests that it would have been a simple matter to set Act II against a brilliant court ball during which the illicit lovers could lose themselves in some convenient little arbour or shrubbery at the appropriate moment, where their discovery would generate a suitably scandalous impression, the grand operatic ensemble of shock and indignation, followed by a thrilling stretta in which the lovers, their confidants, the villain (Merlot), and the victim (King Marke) would simultaneously experience their contrasting emotions in parallel strophes over a series of raucously extended cadences. “Yet instead”, Wagner concludes, “almost nothing but music occurs in this act, and unfortunately, so much of it and of such a kind as to incapacitate the aural faculties of Herr Riehl, and more's the pity, considering there is so little to look at.” In his chapter studying timbre in Tristan Jürgen Maehder notes that the primary expressive role passes to the orchestra, whose greater knowledge transforms action into musical episodes of a novelty that astonished even their creator. He also notes that the isolation of the individual as a result of the ‘loss of the world’ is one of the dominant themes of 19th century art which Tristan helped to its pre-eminence. He studies Wagner's development of a homogeneous orchestral sound which adapts itself to focus every facet of the drama through constant transformation of timbre made possible partly because of the enlargement of the orchestral strings, the extension of woodwind and especially of new brass instruments with valves. Wagner was thus enabled to create “an almost dematerialized orchestral sound”, devoid of caesuras and with a “whole gamut of differing degrees of volume and presence.” Maehder's study of Wagner's scoring is detailed and revelatory, quoting Richard Strauss' interpretation of the composer's “novel imagination of timbres”. This was enhanced by the special acoustic of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, with its covered orchestral pit. – 41 – Tristan probably fascinated composers most of all of Wagner’s music dramas. Its “traces” are examined by Steven Huebner who notes that Alban Berg was so fascinated by the famous opening chord that he played it whenever he saw a piano. It became “a kind of sonic talisman for the modernist”, though Berlioz regarded it as a “chromatic moan" reflecting "his conviction that fundamental principles of his art had been assaulted.” The work has often been identified as one of the sources of expressionism. One approach has been to focus on its chromaticism. The emphasis on the “inner drama of the protagonists” in the opera is seen as a harbinger of the expressionist exploration of interiority: parallels are drawn between Tristan's Act III hallucinations and Schoenberg's Erwartung . But many were baffled by the “function” of the Tristan chord, a theme diligently pursued here. Brahms disliked the work, but there is evidence that he absorbed some of its harmonic lessons. Other connections, eg between Dvorak's music and Wagner's are also explored. Tristan disturbed many on account of its explicit eroticism. It is entertaining to observe the division of response, from that of Bernard Shaw who “heard a style that exuded virility”, to that of Busoni, for whom the musical style of Tristan was “feminine...inactively erotic, thus lascivious. This also explains why its inordinate duration is tolerated. Potency acts swiftly.” And one has to include Aubrey Beardsley's illustration, The Wagnerites , implying “an unbroken stream of promiscuity from the stage into the pit and out into the house.” Homosexual interpretations of the opera can be found in Hanns Fuchs's novel, Eros zwischen euch und uns (1909) and in the novel Efebos, by the gay composer Szynamowski. An allusion to Isolde's Mild und leise can be found in the middle section of Grieg's piano piece Erotik . The 14-year-old Britten even “slipped a Wagnerian sign of rapturous death into the end of Chanson d’automne ”. But it was defended profoundly by Alban Berg, Thomas Mann, Denis de Rougemont, amongst others, and its influence was pervasive, as is evident from Massenet's opera, Esclarmonde , Puccini's Manon Lescaut , Richard Strauss’ Capriccio , in orchestral works such as Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and in the poetry of figures such as TS Eliot, who alludes to Tristan in The Waste Land . 20th century ripostes to Wagner and to Tristan , especially, abound. In the section “Desublimation” we find them in works by Hindemith, Ravel, and Debussy, in Chabrier's piano quadrille on themes from Tristan , titled Souvenirs de Munich and in the final chord of Satie's short piano piece, Choral inappetisant . The Bunuel/Dali film L’Age d’Or also featured grotesque Wagnerian references, but with some political connotations. Hans Werner Henze, feeling Wagner's music to have something totalitarian about it, composed an orchestral piece, Tristan , with a great breadth of cultural references, playing upon the enigmas of desire, loss and memory, which culminate in “a scream of death no longer simply that of Isolde or Tristan, but of the whole suffering world. What can be heard on tape is an electronic elaboration of the scream.” Henze focuses on the texture of world events. Near the end of his piece a citation of the Kareol music occurs to the accompaniment of a human heartbeat (over speakers) and a recitation of the medieval Tristan legend with a Cockney accent. Chimes sound. Oed’ und leer das Meer again. The year is 1973. Henze recalls the “football stadium in Santiago where political suspects are rounded up while the fascists’ goose-step resounds through buildings deserted by the people, and the face of General Pinochet appears on the television screen.”

– 42 – the Wagner society

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

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– 43 – Dates for your diaries – forthcoming events:

NOTIFICATION OF THE 58TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE WAGNER SOCIETY To be held on Thursday June 21st 2012 at 19:00 The Swedenborg Hall, 20 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH Members are cordially invited to attend the Annual General Meeting and to join the Committee for drinks afterwards. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

17th April – Please note that the event previously scheduled – Heldentenors , to be presented by Neil Howlett, has been postponed until later in the year. We will keep you updated. 25th April – The next meeting of the Committee of the Wagner Society will be held in Central London. If you have any issues that you would like to raise for the Committee to discuss at the meeting, please send these to the Secretary, Andrea Buchanan [email protected] 26th April – Dan Sherman will give a talk on ‘ Wagner at the Met ’ at Portland Place School. Please see the flyer enclosed with this edition of Wagner News for further details. 17th – 20th May – International Richard Wagner Congress, Prague. The Wagner Society will be represented at this event and a report will follow in Wagner News. 26th May – Paul Dawson-Bowling will present one of his popular study days on ‘ The Wagner Experience and its Meaning to us ’ at the Swedenborg Hall. Please see the flyer enclosed with this edition of Wagner News for further details. 24th June – Fulham Opera will present a special performance of Das Rheingold at St. John’s Church, Fulham. Please see the flyer enclosed with this edition of Wagner News for further details. 16th October – An Evening with Simon O’Neill . The former Wagner Society Bayreuth Bursary winner and internationally renowned tenor has kindly agreed to give a talk to members, to be held during his participation as Siegmund in the Covent Garden Ring. Further details to follow. 21st October – Joint event with the Mastersingers and the Rehearsal Orchestra – Die Walküre Act 3 – James Rutherford and Rachel Nicholls with David Syrus. Venue to be announced and further details to follow. December 1st – Bayreuth Bursary Competition. To be held at the London Welsh Centre, 157-163 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8UE. Further details to follow.

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