unflagging enthusiasm, organizational skills, and energy, she will be a great asset to the Society. See her photo on page 4. The Spring’s Events Last spring brought us three well-attended and enjoyable events (see the photos in this issue). On April 21 Erika Reitshamer presented “Birgit Nilsson: The Swedish Soprano Who Tamed Wagner,” an audiovisual treat with rare recordings. Ms. Reitshamer regaled us with anecdotes from Nilsson’s memorable life, some of which are hilarious. Here are a few: Once Nilsson quipped: “Isolde made me famous. Turandot made me rich.” On another occasion, when Herbert von Karajan was annoyed at her refusal to show him the reverence he thought was his due, Nilsson called him Herbie. And during a piano rehearsal, when her string necklace broke, Karajan Wagneriana sarcastically asked her if the necklace was made of real pearls bought with the phenomenal fees that the Metropolitan Opera paid her. “Oh, no,” came the tart reply. “They’re only imitation ones that I bought . das Mitleid’s höchste Kraft out of your low fees in Vienna!” Needless to say, we learned a great deal about this beloved soprano. und reinsten Wissens Macht Summer 2007 On May 30 the independent scholar Paul Heise made a return visit to Boston, this time to speak about dem zagen Thoren gab. Volume 4, Number 3 Feuerbach’s influence on Parsifal. Once again, his talk gave much food for thought. For highlights of his –Parsifal talk, see page 7. From the Editor June 23 brought a talk and book signing by the brilliant musicologist Dr. Ira Braus, author of the wonderfully entertaining and erudite Classical Cooks: A Gastrohistory of Western Music. Dr. Braus gave live ecently a member asked me who my favorite composer was. Then the member wondered what it demonstrations on the piano and on cassette to exemplify the surprisingly close connection between is that I love so much about Wagner’s music. The same question asked about a composer such as food and classical music. Many of the dishes and recipes favored by composers were available for the R Liszt or Chopin would be easy to answer. For Liszt, I would use terms such as “effervescent, guests’ enjoyment, among them Mehlspeise (croquettes) for Beethoven, asparagus for Brahms, showy, delightful.” For Chopin, I would say “elegant, refined, soothing.” But for Wagner, these strawberries for Mendelssohn, buttered scones for Debussy, mushrooms for John Cage, pirozhki for adjectives are useless. On the day I was asked the question, all I could come up with on the spur of the Prokofiev, beans for Puccini, black forest cake for Schumann, and more. Each dish was accompanied by moment was “mature, deep, challenging.” But that is only a sliver of the proverbial tip of the iceberg. If I a note card containing a quote from the book, and the busts of several composers adorned the table. had thought more about it, I would have said “deeply humane, individualistic, sublime, glorious, –Dalia Geffen dramatic,” but then I’d be left wondering whether any words are adequate enough to explain Wagner’s oeuvre. Donations It occurred to me that conveying the experience of listening to and/or watching Wagner’s music dramas may well be impossible. Wagner is so complex that perhaps only a certain kind of listening, a hank you to all who responded to our fund-raising efforts. Your generous donations will help us courageous and patient listening in which the mind, heart, and ears remain as open as possible, is bring you quality programs in the coming season. Here is a list of our donors so far. required to understand why he compels so much devotion. Then the rewards are incomparable. T THE R ING ($250 and up) Through this kind of attentive listening, we can see ourselves as we really are in the depths of our Graziella Abu-Jawdeh psyches, a place where an inchoate tangle of passions rules. We may see ourselves in the deep Arnold Garrison compassion of Siegmund’s song, the sad loneliness of the Dutchman’s monologue, the sage wisdom of Richard M. Hunt Gurnemanz’s teachings, the repellent machinations of Hagen, the unearthly love of Tristan and Isolde, Edward Pinkus the joyous cry of the Valkyries, and the majestic mourning of Siegfried’s death. The music can be Samuel Pinós magnificently beautiful (as in Wotan’s Farewell) or disappointingly ugly (the pact to murder Siegfried). But it invariably tracks each and every character’s feelings with astonishing fidelity and skill. It always NOTHUNG ($100–$249) makes a deep kind of sense, has a certain rightness to it that I find unique in the history of music. I am Martin D. Becker Alejandro Milberg convinced that this is a place where only the brave and the deeply curious dare to tread. Jacopo Buongiorno A New Vice President Mary and Edgar Schein TARNHELM ($25–$99) We are pleased to announce that Erika Reitshamer is our new vice president. Peter Bates, who served Zoltan Feher faithfully for three years, has resigned. We are grateful to him for his support and technical advice, as Evangelos Gragoudas well as for his photographs (some of which you might still see here). Cheryl Levin Ms. Reitshamer has been a member of the Boston Wagner Society since November 2004. During that Peggy Pressman time, she has tirelessly announced our activities by handing out flyers and recruiting members. She has also volunteered at various events, proofread the newsletter, provided English translations of German There is still time to make your donations. The names of future donors will appear in the fall issue. text, and given a presentation on Birgit Nilsson. In addition, she has contributed photographs. With her 2 Deborah Voigt at a Master Class so well acted, you can lose yourself in it and not notice the technical shortcomings. Meistersinger is Wagner’s only comedy; it had better be funny, This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Opera Institute at Boston University, and, in collaboration and this one is. And it had better be well sung. No problems there. Well, with the Voice Department at the School of Music and the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, a maybe one. Giorgio Tozzi, who plays Hans Sachs, sings in an overcast public master class with Deborah Voigt was presented on May 29, 2007, at the school’s Tsai Center. manner. Gray is his tone color. Even when he is angry, railing at human Deborah Voigt is well known in all the major operatic and concert venues, both U. S. and foreign, and is frailty in the celebrated “Wahn Monologue,” Tozzi seems slightly stiff, particularly noted for the Wagner heroines Elsa, Elisabeth, Senta, and Isolde. Her appearance here was controlled. Compare his to Wolfgang Brendel’s performance at the Deutsche highly anticipated and very well attended. The students sang a variety of material ranging from Mozart Oper in Berlin, released two years ago (also by Art Haus), and you will see to Puccini, in Italian, French, German, and Russian. There must have been enormous pressure on the more layers of subtlety and dramatic tension in Brendel’s. On the other hand, young singers, who had to perform before a world-famous diva, but they put aside their inhibitions and Toni Blankenheim as the bureaucratic Sixtus Beckmesser is precious. Using showed once again the high quality of the voice students at this prestigious school. just the right combination of ludicrousness and menace, Blankenheim gives Wagner was heard only once, in Wolfram’s “O du mein holder Abendstern” from Tannhäuser. Ms. us a Beckmesser well worth pondering for hours. His pantomime scene in Voigt made it a point to tell the attendees that the popular assertion that the German language is too Act 3, Scene 3 is well improvised, and his vocal gymnastics during his master guttural and not good for the voice is “not true.” All the young singers benefited from her teaching, in song are so sprightly they’re hilarious. As Eva, Arlene Saunders displays which she emphasized correct voice placement and proper breathing in order to maintain a solid curiously sexless, fifties-mom acting chops, but still manages a poignant duet with Sachs in Act 3, Scene foundation for an operatic career. 4. And as Walther, Richard Cassilly sings the role so well, so professionally, he stuns. He conveys Afterward, during the question-and-answer session, she responded to several queries about her adoration and annoyance with equal alacrity. I have only one question: why did they leave out my career with honesty and humor. In reference to dramatic soprano voices, she said, “We don’t grow on favorite excerpt, David’s “Mein Herr,” from Act 1, Scene 2? How is master singer Walther going to be trees. I am fortunate to be on that tree.” She reminded us that a major boost to her career had been her able to tell the difference between a Pewter and a Cinnamon-Stick melody? performance of Ariadne with the Boston Lyric Opera and the subsequent rave review in the New York –Peter Bates Times. Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena, with which she was recently involved at the Metropolitan Opera, was her idea; she noted that she is one of the few singers to be asked what she would like to sing rather than Photos from the Spring Events being told what to sing. When asked what effect her weight loss on the voice (we knew that was coming), she replied that everything affects the voice—travel, trauma, break-ups, weight loss, and weight gain; the most important element is technique, so that when these events happen, technique can come to the rescue.