No: 215 October 2014 Wagner news Number 215 October 2014 CONTENTS 4 Wagner Society Committee Meeting: 15 th July 2014 Andrea Buchanan 5 Richard Wagner Verband International Congress report Andrea Buchanan 6 Opera North Götterdämmerung on Radio 3 Bill Bliss 6 Opera North Götterdämmerung : Being There Roger Lee 8 Opera North Götterdämmerung at Leeds Robert Mitchell 10 Zoe South: Wesendonck Lieder Irene Richards 11 Tristan und Isolde in Salzburg Hilary Reid Evans 12 The Norwich Wagnerfest 2014 Paul Dawson-Bowling 14 Parsifal and Tannhäuser in Norwich John Crowther 18 The Ring Plays Andrea Buchanan 19 The Ring Plays Katie Barnes 22 Rachel Nicholls Après le Déluge recitals at Aldeburgh Katie Barnes 23 Dame Anne Evans/Rachel Nicholls Aldeburgh Masterclass Katie Barnes 26 Meistersinger at Saffron Walden Paul Dawson-Bowling 29 News from Seattle Roger Lee 30 In the next issue of Wagner News 31 Wagner Society Contacts 32 Forthcoming Events Peter Leppard Cover picture: Twilight of the Gods at The Ring Plays event. See: pages 18 to 21 Photo: Sheila Burnett Printed by Rap Spiderweb – www.rapspiderweb.com 0161 947 3700 A WORD OF THANKS Sir John Tomlinson Photo: Simon Jay Price, Royal Philharmonic Society It was a total surprise to receive the July edition of Wagner News with its quite overwhelming succession of such generous expressions of appreciation in response to my receiving the Royal Philharmonic Society gold medal recently. That award is in itself indeed a great honour, but the words written as a result of it have for me been of even greater significance: heart-warming, moving, and in fact hugely invigorating. And vigour is a very important commodity! Let me quote one of Stuart Pendred’s lines: “he cares about the world of music to which he has given so much and which indeed has given him much in return.” Yes it’s true, I have dedicated my working life to music, opera and singing and I continue to do so, but my goodness, my exertions have been amply rewarded with the joy of being deeply involved in the rehearsal and performance of great music, and particularly great music- dramas. And in addition I receive medals and praise! I count myself very fortunate indeed. My warm thanks to Stuart, Katie, Mark, Rhonda, Humphrey, Magda, David and Paul (incidentally, it’s good to see that the argument over the Richard Jones ROH Ring of the 1990s shows no sign of abating!). With love to you all, John Tomlinson –3– FROM THE COMMITTEE Notes from the meeting held in London on July 15 th 2014 Andrea Buchanan, Secretary Apologies for absence were received from Richard Miles, Peter Leppard, Roger Lee, Charlie Furness Smith and Edward Hewitt. Agenda items included the following: 1 Approval of minutes and new members. Notification of membership numbers. These had fallen considerably. Additionally several members had underpaid for the current year and had not yet rectified the situation, despite several reminders. A discussion was also held regarding the membership renewal process for next year. It was agreed that fees would not be increased. 2 Budget update and Treasurer’s report. The April, May and June management accounts were approved and would be made available on the website for members to read. Careful management of spend would still be required for the rest of the financial year. Various administrative items, such as the ballot payments and the need to ensure that Gift Aid claims were up-to-date, were discussed as a result of the Treasurer’s report. 3 The Committee would meet to discuss strategy and ideas for the future in the autumn and would also begin work on the 2015 budget before the next regular Committee meeting (in September). 4 Singing Competition update. The Secretary reported on progress and various outstanding options were discussed and decided. It had been confirmed that Eva Wagner-Pasquier would attend and the President was being invited. Sir John Tomlinson would also attend as a guest. REVIEWER(S) REQUIRED FOR LINCOLN CATHEDRAL CONCERT On 27 th September the following programme was performed by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Mark Elder: Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus Tchaikovski: 5th Symphony Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde . The soloist in the last item is described in Radio Times as “Wagnerian soprano Rachel Nicholls”. I would be very glad to hear from anyone who may feel able to report the Wagner performance for our readers. Roger Lee [email protected] –4– RICHARD-WAGNER-VERBAND INTERNATIONAL Brief report from the Board Andrea Buchanan The new board of the RWVI which was elected at the Congress in Graz in May this year is getting down to work and some interesting changes and developments are in the air. The new President, Thomas Krakow, convened a strategy and team-building meeting in Schloss Ermlitz, outside Leipzig, in late July. Most of the board members attended, with many of these paying their own way. The team held two days of intensive, open and frank discussions and a number of key issues were addressed. These were, broadly, as follows: • Membership: Some Societies have not yet paid their membership fees for the current and previous years and the task of ascertaining whether they still wish to belong is underway. In addition each Board member present was allocated responsibility for a number of regional Societies. This responsibility will entail developing and maintaining meaningful contact with these Societies • Bayreuth: The RWVI wishes to raise its profile during the Stipendiaten (scholarship holders) days in Bayreuth and ways of doing this were discussed. • Relationship-building: The RWVI board seeks to improve its relationships with key counterparties and various initiatives were discussed in this regard. • Finances: These appear to be healthy. The new Treasurer is settling in well and has kept the Board well informed of the situation. • Future Congresses: The possibility of holding a congress in Bayreuth was mooted and other suggestions were evaluated. • Website: Various proposals for developing and maintaining the site in future were discussed. The present webmaster, who is going a wonderful job, cannot continue beyond October. In addition to the formal discussions the Board were given the opportunity to get to know one another better and to explore the various talents and skills that the members bring to the table. There was an excellent spirit of co-operation and a strong desire to serve the Wagner community to the best of our ability. The next Board meeting will be held in Frankfurt in mid October and there the real work will begin! –5– OPERA NORTH GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG ON RADIO 3 Recorded at Leeds Town Hall on 18 th June 2014 Bill Bliss Sometimes productions of Wagner’s operas are better heard than seen. They are certainly different, as my reading of the critics (mainly five star reviews) and listening to a recording on Radio 3 tell me. Opera North’s Ring has received wide acclaim and I am sure most of you will know of its semi-staged format with the singers on a long black strip in front of conductor and orchestra. The orchestral playing was of course superb, one or two brass fluffs just adding to the occasion and some accentuated slowing towards the end. But generally I thought that the singers were over-miked. The Norns felt far too close, unatmospheric and a shade squally. The Rhinemaidens (greatly praised by the critics) were also very much in your ear, too loud and not very watery. Siegfried was top of the bill (one does not often say that). Obviously Mati Turi is better heard than seen. A characterful Hagen and almost an overpowering Gunther. Alwyn Mellor has never ticked my box as Brünnhilde and her voice was just too small last night. (Bring on Rachel Nicholls!) But the worst performance of the evening was by the BBC itself. Radio Times gave us 5.30pm to 10.45pm with no hint of the timing or the length of the intervals. The Prelude did not start till 5.45 pm. We then had between-act intervals of 7 minutes and 8 minutes. A comfort break? A bite to eat? Time for a little reflection on one of the greatest music dramas ever written? No, just a few truly unremarkable words from a 19 th Century opera “specialist” and some mandatory spin from conductor and singers. The BBC has broadcast The Ring with ultra short intervals before and it seriously detracts from one’s enjoyment. If those at Leeds town hall can have an hour plus for dinner why cannot we at home have say 20 minutes for a sandwich and a call of nature? I hope to hear the full cycle in 2016, but without the help of the BBC. OPERA NORTH GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG : BEING THERE Lowry Theatre Salford, 5 th July 2014 Roger Lee Unless the vocal performances at Salford were significantly better than those in Leeds, reading Bill Bliss’ account (above) makes me feel that there must indeed have been something lacking in the radio transmission. I found Alwyn Mellor’s performance, for example, to be characteristically magnificent and (as was abundantly clear from the stage calls) so did the Lowry Theatre audience. In fact both of the Mastersingers alumni: Lee Bisset as Third Norn as well as Alwyn Mellor, made one feel proud to have been associated with their development merely by being a member of the Wagner Society. As well as unmediated sound we also had the benefit of being able to see what was happening. As is so often the case for me, the “concert” performance turned out to be so much more enjoyable that most of the staged productions which I have seen.