No: 221 April 2016 Number 221 April 2016 CONTENTS 3 Editor’s and Chairman’s notes Andrea Buchanan Richard Miles 5 From the Treasurer Neil King 7 New Committee Members 8 Memories of Pierre Boulez Dame Gwyneth Jones 9 A Tribute to Pierre Boulez John Crowther 11 Hans Knappertsbusch – A Celebration Paul Dawson-Bowling 21 Anton Seidl Peter West 23 Wagner and the Jews Professor Derek Hughes 25 Debussy’s Journey from Pro-Wagner to Anti-Wagner John Crowther 28 A Visit to the Nibelunghalle Richard and Sylvia Lemon 30 Thank You to the Wagner Society Kirstin Sharpin 32 Wagner and Shakespeare John Crowther 34 Review – The Rinse Cycle Katie Barnes 36 Review – Die Walküre in Dresden James Flattery 37 Review – Fulham Opera’s Der fliegende Holländer Katie Barnes 41 Review – A Recent Concert at the Liceu, Barcelona Jeremy Rowe 42 Review – Tristan und Isolde in Baden-Baden Andrea Buchanan 43 Wagner Society Contacts 44 Forthcoming Events Cover photo: Stuart Skelton in Tristan and Isolde, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden Copyright Monika Rittershaus Printed by Rap Spiderweb – www.rapspiderweb.com 0161 947 3700 Editor’s Note Andrea Buchanan Taking over from Roger Lee, albeit temporarily, was never going to be an easy task and I have discovered just how true this is in putting together this edition of Wagner News. It has deepened my respect and admiration for Roger in performing the role so competently and creatively for so long. I have done my best to make a decent job of editing this magazine. You wilI note that it is slightly shorter than usual and I trust you will forgive me for this. I am not sure whether our members appreciate how much admiration and how many compliments about Wagner News we receive from our overseas Wagner Society colleagues who read this regularly. Along with the quality of the singers that we have assisted in various ways in forging their Wagner careers, it is a testament to the reputation that the Wagner Society has gained in the world-wide Wagner community. The recent sad news of the death of Pierre Boulez has prompted two articles: a wonderful personal memoir from our President, Dame Gwyneth Jones, and a tribute from John Crowther. We have lost yet another fine Wagnerian in this extraordinary conductor. I am proud of the quality of the contributions to this edition. The centrepiece is unquestionably Paul Dawson-Bowling’s excellent tribute to Hans Knappertsbusch and we are grateful for the considerable effort that has gone into this fine piece of writing. The shorter, although in no way less valuable contributions from John Crowther, Derek Hughes, Peter West, Richard and Sylvia Lemon, Jeremy Rowe and James Flattery make for interesting and insightful reading. And where would we be without Katie Barnes and her eminently readable reviews, of which I am pleased to report we have two in this edition? Last but not least, of course, thank you to our President, Dame Gwyneth, for her contribution. In the process of putting this edition together I have discovered with great pleasure the amazing copy-editing skills of John Baildam and am deeply grateful for his precise and painstaking efforts in ensuring that we have as few errors in the magazine as possible. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. Andrea Buchanan From the Chairman Richard Miles Dear members, There are plenty of developments to report on this month. Firstly, I should like to pay tribute to Roger Lee, who as you will know has had to resign as Editor of Wagner News for health reasons. I will begin by quoting verbatim his valedictory statement, entitled “The pleasure of editing Wagner News”: “The 980 pages making up the 21 issues of Wagner News which I edited from January 2011 to January 2016 covered some 541 items. “It was my privilege to work with almost 150 authors and a special pleasure to invite 60 first-time writers to join this group. “It was my aim to increase the proportion of the magazine’s – 3 – material produced by practitioners and a long list of distinguished names provided a rich resource in this respect. “My principal objective was that of encouraging the artists who came to us via Mastersingers and the singing competitions to share their experiences with our readers. It is the work of these authors which made me most proud.” Naturally, we wish Roger all the very best for a full recovery, but in the meantime, we will find him very hard to replace. Roger made the job of editing Wagner News look so easy for so long, with little requirement for input from the Committee, and he produced such an interesting and varied magazine each quarter, that we are all at risk of underestimating how difficult this is to achieve. Please bear with us while we try to follow in his footsteps. Finally, I’m sure that all members will want to join us in thanking him for his achievements over the last five years, and in wishing him well. The second person leaving the Committee to be thanked and appreciated for her even longer tenure as Membership Secretary is Margaret Murphy. She has worked tirelessly on behalf of members for 18 years and for many members has been the ‘face of the Society’ over that time. Whether answering queries, or patiently chasing unpaid and underpaid subscriptions, she has been unfailingly efficient, tactful and good-humoured. As a (relatively) new Chairman, I am extremely grateful for her wisdom, common sense and guidance over the last four years. We shall miss her, and we wish her a long and happy retirement. Numbers 3 and 4 (in no particular order) are Ed Hewitt and Charlie Furness-Smith, who joined the Committee about four years ago, and have both decided to stand down. Ed was our legal adviser, and his counsel in connection with the redrafting of the Constitution a couple of years ago was particularly valuable. He has also been a valuable source of informal advice on legal issues that have arisen from time to time. Members will recall Charlie’s highly erudite and entertaining, albeit occasional emails, full of provocative and interesting ideas. Fortunately, we do not have to do without Charlie and Ed altogether, as both have offered to help the Committee in future, but both of them feel that their family and professional commitments mean that they cannot play a full part in Committee affairs for now. We are grateful to both of them. Andrea Buchanan deserves thanks for having been Secretary for the last few years. During that time, she has been the real heart and soul of the Society. She is standing down from the Secretary role and the Committee although she remains as Singing Competition Manager, and has been responsible for editing this edition of Wagner News, while we find a suitable editorial committee (Roger is too hard an act to follow for his role to be filled by one person alone!). Finally, it is my great pleasure to say that we have recruited four new members to the Committee. They will be formally appointed at the AGM in May, at which point each of them will introduce themselves in person, but we are delighted to welcome Cormac Cawley, Jan Leigh, William Matthams and David Pope to the Committee. Please refer to page 6 where you will find a brief biographical statement from each of them. We will continue to allocate roles consequent on the above changes, but for now, William Matthams is appointed as Secretary, replacing Andrea Buchanan, and Jan Leigh has taken responsibility for events. We welcome all four of them. – 4 – Annual Accounts and Other Financial Matters Neil King, Treasurer By the time this edition of Wagner News has been posted, the audited annual accounts will have reached you and the AGM will be upon us. Since a comparatively small proportion of members come to the AGM, I am taking this opportunity to cover some of the main points from the 2015 annual accounts, which I will also be covering in my report at the AGM. I have additionally covered a number of other finance-related items that I think will be of interest to members. ANNUAL ACCOUNTS This year was again one of frugality and caution, and we ended the year almost exactly on budget, creating a small surplus as we did last year. However, the resources of the Society are still by no means back to where they were in 2012 and we must continue to exercise caution in all financial decisions, as well as seeking to maximise income and hopefully gain more members in 2016. Number of members: For the second year running, there has been a significant drop in the number of members. There is some comfort in 2015, however, since the drop came primarily from our no longer recognising as members people paying less than the current subscription. I had mentioned this at the AGM last year and also in Wagner News during 2015. Only a timely payment of the full subscription will henceforth result in membership being retained. (It should also be noted that the categories of European and Overseas members were abolished during 2015 and, since the year-end, student membership has also become free of charge.) However, we continue to hope that the re-vamped website will encourage many more new (and younger) members to join and so begin increasing the membership roll. Income: Income was down across all categories, reflecting the lower membership numbers, although donation income remained constant; likewise, income from events was also down by about a third, reflecting the fewer events arranged in 2015 and a lower number of paid attendances.