#Editorial
#Urgently Needed: Secretary of WSoS
#Future Society Meetings of WSoS
#Siegfried on Zoom
#News
Editorial
Little did we expect, back in June, that we would be sending you another newsletter now to inform you about what is happening to the Society and its programme of meetings. Clearly, we are still not in a position to meet as a group and have had to make contingency plans which are outlined below. We hope that this will go some way towards mitigating the disappointment of a year without Bayreuth, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh Festivals and Wimbledon.
As we often need to get information to members at short notice, PLEASE, PLEASE give us your email address if you have not already done so. This will not affect how you have opted to receive the Newsletter (post or email) but will enable us to communicate any changes in arrangements or events quickly and cheaply (contact membership@wagnerscotland.net). We look forward to meeting again, hopefully in the not too distant future. In the meantime, please enjoy some of the online events listed below.
Urgently Needed: Secretary of WSoS
We are still very much in need of a Secretary to take over from John Anderton when he leaves at the AGM in December this year. The Society cannot function without this most important of all roles. If anyone feels able to help, please get in touch with our Derek Williams (chair@wagnerscotland.net) in the first instance for an informal chat.
Future Society Meetings of WSoS
When it became apparent that we will be unable to hold events at the Society of Musicians, we decided to hold them online (via Zoom) until further notice, rather than cancelling them. Monthly meetings will start at 6.30pm and the duration will be advised on the Zoom link. Members with access to computers and email will receive the necessary information from the Secretary John Anderton (or his successor), about 10 days before, including contact links for Zoom provided by Derek Williams. This process will be repeated at monthly intervals. Members do not need to book, just use the link provided. Non-members can book through Eventbrite on the website.
Members who do not have a computer will not of course be able to take part in the zoom meetings. However, Derek will make a video recording of the meeting which will be available as a DVD free to members and we will endeavour to provide a comprehensive description of the talk in future editions of the Newsletter.
Our first talk on 18th October will be delivered from Malta where Jeremy Coleman has now taken up residence. Entitled Richard Wagner in Paris: Translation, Identity, Modernity, Jeremy will talk about Wagner’s controversial relationship with Paris and French culture, drawing on his recently published monograph on this topic.
On 15th November 2020 Philip White’s talk on Experience with the Bayreuth Festival Chorus will now be online and will include interesting anecdotes about a number of choirs.
For the first time ever, the AGM will also be online on 6th December 2020. After the business part of the meeting, Michael Graham, our 2019 Stipendiat will talk about Bayreuth 2019: A Young Conductor’s Perspective.
At present Paul Dawson-Bowling’s Study Event on Rienzi is scheduled for 10th January 2021. We will let you know what form this might take as soon as we have the information.
Siegfried on Zoom
Following the decision to cancel our residential study weekend at Gartmore, David Nice kindly agreed to present the course online over 10 weeks. Seventeen members signed up plus five from other Wagner societies. It was a great success with a lot of positive feedback and an online visit from Sir John Tomlinson. We thank David for doing this. He will be continuing with Gotterdämmerung in his own ‘Opera in Depth’ courses starting on 5th October 2020. Please contact him direct at: david.nice@usa.net. We are grateful to Dale and Brenda for organizing Gartmore in the past; as neither is available next year, we are unsure what the future holds for this popular event. Please let us know your views.
Dale Bilsland
News
Following cancellation of the 2020 RWVI Kongress in Bonn, the event will now take place as part of the Berlin-Brandenburg Society’s Symposium on 70 Years of the New Bayreuth 28-31 January 2021. The programme is available at: https://www.richard-wagner.org/rwvi/en/events/wagner-symposium/
The 2021 Kongress will take place in Munich – 14-17 October 2021. The programme is available here: https://www.richard-wagner.org/rwvi/en/events/wagner-congress
Longborough Festival Opera is continuing its Ring with Die Walküre from 4-12 June 2021
Glyndebourne is reviving Nichoaus Lehnhoff’s Tristan und Isolde in 2021, including Simon O’Neill and Miina-Liisa Värelä in the title roles, and our own Karen Cargill as Brangäne.
The Vienna State Opera has announced that selected performances in its 2020/21 Season will be streamed free of charge: https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/
https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/register
Members can access online talks arranged by RWVI, London Wagner Society, Manchester Wagner Society and a host of others via their respective websites. Below are listed some possibilities:
The Metropolitan Opera Guild has an online study session on Tristan und Isolde on Tuesday 13th October 5.30-7-.00pm EST: https://metguild.thinkific.com/courses/score-reading-wagner-tristan
The Wagner Society London’s next meeting online is on 14 October at 6.30pm – Banns on Love: Bourgeois Longings in Das Liebesverbot by Professor Chris Walton: https://wagnersociety.org/events/
The Wagner Society of Southern California has a talk online through Zoom on 22nd November Potions in Tristan, Walküre and Götterdämmerung by Jasmin Solfaghari. 1.00pm Pacific Time (9.00pm BST). Details of registration on their website:
http://www.wagnersociety.us/events.htm
Just published: Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross. Fourth Estate pp.784. We would welcome a review of this substantial volume