DECEMBER 2015 - APRIL 2016 WAGNER NEWS Wagner News is published by the TORONTOWAGNER SOCIETY TWS web site: www.torontowagner.org TWS CALENDAR E-mail:
[email protected] Our Winter season begins with a very special event: Monday François Girard, (the director of Siegfried), and Sue January 18 Elliott, (educator and pre-performance speaker, 8.00 p.m. Royal Conservatory of Music), “In Conversation - Directing Wagner Operas”. Friday Siegfried Singers’ Roundtable, with Stefan Vinke, February 12 8.00 p.m. Christine Goerke, Alan Held, Wolfgang Ablinger- Sperrhacke and other members of the Siegfried cast. Brett Polegato in Conversation; Canadian lyric Monday March 7 baritone, well known for many roles, including 8.00 p.m. Kurwenal. Monday Barry Millman, a TWS member will present April 18 8.00 p.m. Wagner’s Ring by way of the Postcard, featuring his postcard collection that goes back to the 1800’s. Meetings at Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street Stephan Bonfield From Gods to Mortals; Exploring Human Identity and Memory in Siegfried; INSIDE Frances Henry, Richard Rosenman, Pierre Couture News and Comments; Wagner on Stage; 2 Stephan Bonfield From Gods to Mortals; Exploring Human Identity and Memory in Siegfried When we first meet the hero Siegfried, it is difficult at first to recognize in him a character we could hardly believe we will come to know all too well: a man-child- demigod who seeks knowledge of his own past and identity from a dwarf who can tell him very little about either. What little Mime does know he buttresses with untruths, such as claiming to be both Siegfried's father and mother, in a petulant and often fitful manner to control the young man so as to use him for his own sinister purposes to acquire the Ring.