No: 207 October 2012 Number 207 October 2012 INSIDE 4 Annual General Meeting: 21 st June 6 From the Committee 7 New Committee Members 8 Helena Dix in Bayreuth 10 Book: The Power of The Ring David Edwards 12 Die Walküre at Deutsche Oper, Berlin Robert Mitchell 13 Wagnerjobs: Writing and photography needed 14 Fulham Opera Das Rheingold Katie Barnes 18 Opera North Die Walküre at Birmingham Paul Dawson-Bowling 20 Dame Gwyneth Jones in Wagnerin Roger Lee 21 From the Chairman of the Leipzig Wagner Society Thomas Krakow 22 Richard Strauss: A Patriot but not a Nazi Chris Argent 23 Liszt, Alkan and Berlioz Societies Andrea Buchanan 24 Renewing your Membership Mike Morgan 26 Longborough Götterdämmerung Paul Dawson-Bowling 30 A Longborough Vassal’s Blog Nick Fowler 34 Bayreuth Festival 2012 Robert Mitchell 36 Presteigne Weekend: 21 st to 23 rd September Chris Argent and Roger Lee 40 Barry Millington: The Sorcerer of Bayreuth Christian Hoskins 41 Wagner 200 42 John Tomlinson Weekend 2013 43 Wagner Birthday Lunch 44 Richard Wagner and the Indian connection Dilip Roy 45 Book: Music in 1853 Roger Lee 47 Wagner Society Contacts 48 Events for your diary Cover: Stuart Pendred and Malcolm Rivers as Hagen and Alberich in the Longborough Festival Opera production of Götterdämmerung . See page 26. Printed by Rap Spiderweb – www.rapspiderweb.com 0161 947 3700 –2– EDITOR’S NOTE “The musician is the servant of the composer.” So said Sir George Solti. The centenary of his birth will be celebrated on 21st October in Chicago, the city which he made his musical home. The World Orchestra for Peace which was founded by Solti in 1995 for the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations will be joined by Angela Gheorghiu and René Pape (both of whom began their careers with Solti) and young singers from the Georg Solti Accademia a Bel Canto in his Italian home of Castiglione della Pescaia. Each summer twelve young singers and two repetiteurs receive a three week scholarship of intensive training which has established the programme as one of the world’s leading opera courses. Solti set standards for recorded sound which have never been surpassed. He provided the artistic direction for what BBC Music Magazine recently described as “the greatest recording feat of all time” in the form of his Ring cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic and a group of Decca engineers recognised as an elite in their field of work. In concert he combined rigorous perfectionism with what Ed Vulliamy of the Observer describes as “explosive spontaneity” . In his 30 year association with the Royal Opera and particularly during his tenure as Music Director from 1961 to 1971 Solti raised musical standards of the company to unprecedented heights. An exhibition in the Amphitheatre Gallery provides an overview of his work at Covent Garden which includes costumes and production designs. Lady Valerie Solti has lent family photographs, the portrait of Solti by Maggi Hambling, Solti’s Götterdämmerung scores and his briefcase with the contents as he had left them. A committed European, his orchestral career was centred on the Vienna Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestras, and he later wrote: “My term as musical director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was the happiest time in my professional life.” A Hungarian refugee who made his home in Switzerland, raised a family in London, had a house in Italy and an orchestra in America, Georg Solti was a man who was, as Ed Vulliamy says, without race or nation. Lady Solti describes her husband as “a person of the world with a belief in the new Europe.” Just as Georg Solti understood the new Germany while others remained stuck in wartime thinking, he also understood the need to perform and record the work of Richard Wagner. Whereas the composer whose anti-semitism and whose interpretation of Teutonic myths had been misappropriated and abused by the Nazis, Georg Solti performed Wagner’s music as a recording artist whose aim it was to make the work available to as many people as the technology of his time allowed. These recordings provide a legacy for an ever-increasing audience for The Art of the Future. The exhibition: Georg Solti and the Royal Opera is open for daytime visitors to the Amphitheatre Gallery from 10am to 3.30pm on certain days. Check: 0208 7304 4000 The World Orchestra for Peace Georg Solti Centennial Concert will be hosted by Valery Solti and conducted by Valery Gergiev at Carnegie Hall on 19th October and at Symphony Centre Chicago on 21st October To view a gallery of pictures from Lady Solti’s personal albums go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2012/sep/09/new-review/features –3– ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 21 st June 2012, Swedenborg Hall, London Andrea Buchanan 38 members attended the 58 th AGM and the meeting was therefore quorate. All members of the Committee attended, with the exception of Roger Lee, from whom apologies had been received. In her capacity as Secretary and Acting Chair, Andrea Buchanan opened the meeting by asking attendees to read the minutes of the 2010 and 2011 AGMs carefully and time was allotted for this. Apologies for absence were then read out, notably from the President, who could not be present due to work commitments. The meeting then moved to the election of the Committee for 2012-13 and it was agreed that the voting would take place as a block. The former committee were all accepted to remain in their positions. [Note: Malcolm Rivers subsequently resigned from the Committee and is therefore currently no longer serving in this capacity.] As Richard Miles had been duly elected as Chair he assumed this role at this point from the Secretary. Acceptance of the minutes from 2010 and 2011 was then sought from the meeting. There was considerable discussion from the floor regarding the 2010 minutes, pertaining to a remark that may or may not have been made during that AGM by the then Chair. A motion was brought from the floor to amend the minutes and was passed. [Note: as detailed by the Chair in his subsequent letter to members of June 2012, the minutes were not amended. The matter is now considered closed.] The 2011 minutes were passed without comment. The Secretary highlighted the main points of her report, written in her capacity as former Acting Chair. This had been distributed at the meeting and concerned the activities of the Society during 2011. The Treasurer presented the 2011 accounts, noting that the year had ended with a healthy surplus. He noted however that membership numbers were beginning to fall significantly and warned of the impact of this on the finances going forward. It was notable that administration costs had risen sharply in 2011 and steps would be taken to reduce these. Dividends from charitable investments had fallen, due to adverse market conditions. After a few questions the members accepted the accounts. The auditors were also duly elected without any issues. Three members had raised issues to be discussed in Any Other Business. The first was a request for an explanation for the resignations of the Chair, Webmaster and one other Committee member. This was answered by a statement distributed by the Committee at the meeting and the member who raised the query stated that this was adequate. A further member had requested that an apology be issued to the President over a perceived slight in 2010. Those present did not agree to this. The same member had also raised a query over the constitution which was not pursued at the meeting, as it had been resolved in 2009. A third member raised the matter of pricing of events, stating that, in his opinion, current pricing was unaffordable for many members. The Committee agreed to consider these comments and to take them into account when pricing future events. The meeting ended at approximately 8:30pm and many of those present joined the Committee for drinks. –4– FROM THE COMMITTEE 5th September 2012 Andrea Buchanan Attendees: Richard Miles, Chair; Andrea Buchanan, Secretary; Mike Morgan, Treasurer; Margaret Murphy, Membership Secretary; Gary Kahn, Programme Advisor; Edward Hewitt and Ralph Wells. Apologies were received from Geoffrey Griffiths and Roger Lee. Charlie Furness-Smith was unavoidably detained by work commitments, although he subsequently met with Andrea and Mike and was fully briefed on the meeting. Richard reported that he had written to Chancellor Merkel about the loss of allocations of Bayreuth tickets for Wagner Societies and had received a polite though non- committal response. He noted that a great deal of discussion had taken place between Andrea, Mike and himself regarding the future of the Society and conclusions had been reached about a way forward. These would involve a radical revamp of the website, automation of many time-consuming processes eg membership administration, event ticket sales, communication to members, increasing benefits to members, broadening the range of events and improving our advertising and PR. He also noted that he, Gary, Andrea and Mike had met with the organisers of Wagner 200 and that the Society had pledged to support this initiative in the belief that this would raise our profile and would associate the Society with many important events that were being organised for the 2013 bicentenary. Further details of this and of changes to come will be properly communicated to members in due course. There remains much planning and organising to do. It was noted that the Committee still lacked two members to take on events co-ordination and publicity. The search for suitable candidates continued. Richard ended by saying how pleased he was that Charlie and Ed (both of whom are under 30) had agreed to join the Committee.