Wagner Society in NSW Inc. Maximise your enjoyment and understanding of Wagner’s music Newsletter No. 126, September 2012 In Memoriam DENIS CONDON Piano Historian & Collector Dies - Article Below President’s Report Welcome to the third newsletter for 2012. STOP PRESS 1: It has been an exciting time for us Wagner lovers. First, our patron, Simone Young somehow managed to fi t us On 12 August a capacity audience of Members into an incredibly busy schedule, and was the star of our and guests met our Patron, Simone Young AO. last function, on 12 August. An unprecedented number A large group went north to hear the Hamburg attended the event – 160 in all - including a quite a few Opera Orchestra and cast of Das Rheingold in two non-members, some of whom joined the Society on the sensational performances. spot. The fi rst part of the meeting consisted of an interview between Francis Merson and Maestra Young (I refuse to call her “Maestro,” so henceforth she will be “Simone”). Francis is the editor of Limelight Magazine, and he asked a number of interesting questions about Simone’s background and her future plans. Simone, who was amazingly relaxed, given her other commitments, gave very full responses about her musical experiences, and spoke in an extremely frank and sometimes self-deprecating manner. We were treated to a number of anecdotes from her life, delivered with great humour. Some of them are described in detail later in this newsletter. As to her future plans, she is committed to remain in Hamburg until the end of the 2015 season, at which time she proposes to do freelance work. By then both her daughters will have fi nished school, so that her husband, Greg, will be free to travel with her. During the last part of the session Simone took questions Simone Young, Francis Merson and Jane Mathews at from the fl oor, and was extremely generous with her Sunday, 12 August 2012 function answers. She gave a fascinating exposition of how she STOP PRESS 2: PRESIDENT’S REPORT continued p.3 l Sydney Symphony announces two concert PATRON: Simone Young AM performances of Der fl iegende Holländer, starring HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS: Prof Michael Ewans Eric Owens (Alberich in the current Metropolitan Mr Richard King Opera Ring Cycle) with conductor-designate David Mr Horst Hoffman Robertson, Amber Wagner, John Daszak and Sally- Mr Joseph Ferfoglia Anne Russell among others. Registered Office: 75 Birtley Towers, 8 Birtley Place, Elizabeth Bay NSW 2011 Print Post Approved PP242114/00002 Wagner Society in NSW Inc. For Your Diary 2013 Sat. 13 & Sun.14 April PARSIFAL – Metropolitan Opera production Cremorne Orpheum, Chauvel & (and 18 April at Dendys) Dendy Newtown & Opera Quays 20 and 22 July Der fliegende Holländer - starring Eric Owens - SSO concert performances Sydney Opera House 31 July and 1, 2 August Extracts from Meistersinger and Die Walküre and the Sydney premiere of Sydney Opera House James Ledger’s remarkable The Madness and Death of King Ludwig (31 July and 1 August only) 7, 9, 10 August Wesendonck Lieder – orchestrated by Felix Mottl Sydney Opera House 18, 19, 20, 21 September The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure – arranged de Vlieger Sydney Opera House Nov-December 2013 The Ring Cycle – Melbourne: Melbourne Opera Theatre Cycle 1: November 18 to 25. Cycle 2: November 27 to December 4. Cycle 3: December 6 to 13. ## ## Opera Australia has created a new website for its Melbourne Ring Cycle, including a process for registering your application for tickets, if you haven’t qualified for other ticketing arrangements: http://melbourneringcycle.com.au/visit_melbourne. Meetings Dates & Coming Events DATE EVENTS - 2012 TIME & LOCATION EVENT STARTING TIMES MAY VARY PLEASE CHECK THE SCHEDULE FOR DETAILS 16 September In Conversation with John Pickering on Life in Germany, and Lübeck Goethe Institut 2PM and Members’ Feedback: Bayreuth 2012 DVD at 12.30pm: Act 3 of Tannhäuser, with Stig Andersen in the title role. 21 October In Conversation with John Wegner Goethe Institut 1PM No DVD and early start at 1PM. 11 November End of Year Special Event - Concert with Warwick Fyfe and Lisa Harper-Brown Mosman Art Gallery with accompanist Stephen Mould - AT MOSMAN ART GALLERY (corner Art Gallery Way and Myahgah Road) - catered event; no need to bring a plate. No DVD DATE 2013 TIME & LOCATION Some events may be subject to change and further detail in the next newsletter Sat & Sun 9-10 TBC – Ring Weekend – we hope to bring you a comprehensive series of lectures TBA February as part of our preparation for the Melbourne 2013 Ring 10 March Climbing Towards Midnight / Jack Symonds’ composition referencing Parsifal Act Goethe Institut 2PM 2 - Louis Garrick & Jack Symonds, Sydney Chamber Opera 14 April Dr David Schwartz (composer, countertenor & specialist on Yiddish theatre) - Goethe Institut 2PM Wagner and Psychological Motivation in The Ring 26 May Wagner Society AGM with Special Musical Event Goethe Institut 2PM 30 June Tony Legge, OA, Opera Australia’s Assistant Music Director Goethe Institut 2PM 11 August Lisa Gasteen – Professor of Opera at Queensland Conservatorium Goethe Institut 2PM 8 September Neil Armfield’s Ring Adventure - Director of Opera Australia’s 2013 Ring Cycle in Goethe Institut 2PM Melbourne Advice about changes to the Program will be emailed to people who have given their email addresses to the Society’s Webmaster; the latest updates will also be available on the Society’s webpage: www.wagner.org.au. Admission to each event will be $20 a Member, and $25 per non-Member, unless otherwise indicated. Goethe-Institut address 90 Ocean Street Woollahra (corner of Jersey Road) New Members The following people joined the Society from May 2012: Michael Berman & Lee Berman; Jill Sullivan; Peter Bruce; David and Valerie Adamson; Wendy Atmore; Rosalind Baker; Richard Buckdale & Rong Hui Liu; Christina Busby; Chris Ford; Dianne Gallagher; Maire Glacken; Judith Gleeson-White; Joy Hanckel; Audrey Haslem; Nora Haywood; Alison Stenmark; Richard White; Donna Woodhill. Page 2 Wagner Society in NSW Inc. Committee 2010 - 2011 President Jane Mathews 9360 9822 Vice President Leona Geeves 9337 6978 Vice President & Newsletter Editor Terence Watson 8097 9797 Treasurer & Membership Secretary Dennis Mather 0413 156 700 or 9560 1860 Secretary Colleen Chesterman 9360 4962 Members Roger Cruickshank 0414 553 282 immediate past President Tony Jones 0412 572 624 Peter Murray [email protected] Mike Day 0413 807 533 Paulo Montoya 0405 196 085 Public Offi cer Alasdair Beck 9358 3922 New productions then remain in the repertoire, and can President’s Report continued be revived at any time in the future. The difference, of course, lies in the available funding for the arts. Would suggested a newcomer should approach the Ring. In the that we could approach the German model! Katie French process, she pointed out – something I had never thought has written a full report later in this Newsletter. of before – that the opera Siegfried is a series of duets. And she was, as always, absolutely correct: when one Bayreuth Tickets for 2013 thinks about it, there is not a single scene in the entire We are continuing in our endeavours to persuade the opera which has more than two participants. Bayreuth Festival authorities to resume allocating tickets to Wagner Societies. Indeed, our Treasurer, Dennis I had (foolishly) thought that I knew a reasonable amount Mather, and I went to Bayreuth for the day when we about Simone’s past, but I was stupefi ed at some of her were in Munich for the Ring Cycle. We had lunch with achievements, not to mention the illustrious musicians Frau Besser-Eichler, the head of the Friends of Bayreuth. she has worked with closely over the years. She remains, She is very sympathetic to the Wagner Societies, but is incidentally, the only woman ever to have conducted a full unfortunately only one voice amongst several. We cannot Ring Cycle, and by now she has conducted quite a few! afford to be optimistic about the outcome. We certainly All in all, it was an exceptional afternoon. know that there will be no such allocations for the 2013 And the treats continued....at least, they did so for festival. However we will continue to receive a small the many Sydneysiders who went to Brisbane where allocation from the Friends of Bayreuth. Accordingly, there Simone conducted her Hamburg orchestra in two are two principal ways in which members can apply for concert performances of Das Rheingold, with a Mahler 2013 festival tickets. First, members can apply for tickets 2nd symphony (“the Resurrection”) thrown in for good directly from the Bayreuth box offi ce, either by post or measure. Simone conducted the orchestra (comprising through the internet (postal and internet addresses are set well over 100 players) in thrilling performances which out below). Applications must be received by 20 October brought the entire audience to its feet at the end. The soloists are described later in this Newsletter, but I have NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS to mention the Wotan, Falk Struckmann, who in my opinion is amongst the greatest Wotans singing today. Simone Young: A Month of Music-Making P5 The cast was the same as many of us saw in Hamburg, In Australia except for the Fricka and the Alberich, both of whom Simone Young’s Brisbane-Hamburg Opera Festival P6 have moved onto other roles. Our own Deborah Humble was a superb Erda. Members will remember that our Travelling North: Succumbing to the Lure of P8 the Rhinemaidens - Katie French Society is sponsoring Deborah in the Melbourne Ring, where she will be singing both Erda and Waltraute, and John Pickering - Society Guest and Opera P11 will therefore be singing in all four operas.