Ryan Brown, Conductor and Artistic Director, Opera Lafayette, on
"Passion, Magic, and Wagner's 17th Century Operatic
Inheritance"
- Thursday, January 17, 2008, 7:30 pm;
at 108 Funger Hall, The George Washington University, 2201 G St., NW
===> Postponed, owing to weather
Wagner Society GALA, 2007!
- Saturday, December 1, 2007, 7:00 pm; at the
French Embassy
This black-tie-optional event, held at the French Embassy, in La
Maison Française, showcased artists of the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart
Emerging Singers Program (ESP) performing music from Der fliegende Holländer.
The fun-filled evening included live (hosted by Chip Brienza, WETA) and silent
auctions to help support Wagner Society programs, including the ESP. Dr. Gerald
Perman, Founder and Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Society, was honored.
Members and friends dined on the fine cuisine of the French Embassy kitchen! (. .
the connection with the French Embassy?
Jessica Quillin; "Wagner, Shelley, and the
Musico-Poetics of the Lyric Drama"
- Thursday, November 15, 2007, 7:30 pm,
at The George Washington University, Funger Hall.
Critics have long sought models in music and literature for Wagner's
epic Ring. Jessica Quillin, Cambridge Ph.D., will focused on Wagner's musico-literary
inheritance from the British Romantic poets, particularly from Shelly, where Dr. Quillin
focused her research. She is currently at American Institutes for Research; she was the
editor of the Washington National Opera Season Book. See the Arthur/Quillin
Information Flyer and the
Press announcement.
15th Emerging Singers Program
- Thursday, November 1, 2007; at the Embassy of
the Federal Republic of Germany, Washington DC.
The evening will present sopranos, Julia Rowling and Valerie Bernhardt;
baritone, Ryan Kinsella; and tenor, Cory Bix -- all accompanied by Society favorite Betty
Bullock on piano. Selections from Die Meistersinger, Tristan und Isolde,
Die Walküre, Das Rheingold, Parsifal, Lohingrin, and Act
III, Scene 3, of Götterdämmerung will be performed. You can use our
on-line reservation form.
See our Information Flyer and our
ESP Press Announcement for more details.
Donald Arthur; "Hans Hotter -- An Operatic
Giant"
- Friday, October 19, 2007, 7:30 pm, at The George
Washington University, Washington DC.
Donald Arthur, opera singer, actor, lyricist, and author, will share
his experiences with iconic German bass-baritone, Hans Hotter. Mr. Arthur also was the was
the German voice of Chef Gusteau in the film "Ratatouille"!
See the Arthur/Quillin Information
Flyer.
Sven Friedrich; "Bayreuth: Past, Present, and
Future"
- Sunday, October 21, 2007, at the Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorial Library, Washington DC. See Nearby
Wagner-Related Events.
2007 Award Banquet -- just behind us!
- Friday, June 8, found 70 Wagner Society Members and
friends at the Arts Club of Washington, the historic former home of James Monroe, enjoying
an evening of food, wine, friendly conversation, and some wonderful singing by Emerging
Singer, baritone Ryan Kinsella, The festive evening was capped by the presentation of the
Wagner Society Award to the eminent Jeffrey Swann -- international concert
pianist, frequent Bayreuth lecturer, Wagner expert extraordinaire, and long-time friend to
this Wagner Society. Jeffrey had come down for the evening from his home base in New York
city, and seemed truely surprised and pleased by the award. Other Awardees have included,
among others, Martin Feinstein, Heinz Fricke, Saul Lilienstein, Placido Domingo, and Evelyn
Lear.
Wagner in der Wildnis, VII (Lohengrin)
- Friday-Sunday, June 1-3, 2007, Cacapon Resort State Park, West
Virginia
This is the seventh annual retreat to focus again on one of Wagner's
operas, with Pianist/lecturer Jeffrey Swann and Professor Simon Williams guiding us in our
learning and conversations, libretto reading, and fun.
Read our information flyer.
(The event is filled.) See the Cacapon Park Web
site.
Alfred Turco; "Nobody's Perfect: George Bernard
Shaw as Wagnerite"
- Thursday, May 17, 2007; at The GWU Funger Hall.
Professor Alfred Turco, of the Wesleyan University English department,
and author of "Shaw's Moral Vision" and articles on other early modern dramatists,
focused on Shaw's activity as a Wagner interpreter and advicate during the 1890s when he
wrote "The Perfect Wagnerite".
14th Emerging Singers Program Concert
- Thursday, May 10, 2007; at the University of
Maryland, College Park, Dekelboum Concert Hall
The 14th Thomas Stewart and Evelyn Lear Emerging Singers
Program (ESP), with the Wagner Society, presented the 14th concert since the first
concert in April 2000. The Program consisted of Act III of Wagner's Siegfried.
Four Emerging Singers performed with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, under
James Ross, Conductor.
See our information flyer for more information.
David Levin; "Four Directors, One Ring"
- Thursday, April 19, 2007, at The GWU Funger Hall
David Levin, Associate Professor, University of Chicago, editor of the
New Opera Quarterly, and author of "Learning to Love the Gesamtkunstwerk:
Wagner's Pedagogy of Absorption" discussed the recent phenomenon of inviting multiple
stage directors, and teams, to prepare a new production.
See (the top of) our information flyer.
Washington National Opera, Opening night of Wagner's
Die Walküre
- Saturday, March 24, 2007, at The Kennedy Center Opera House
There were on-going activities associated with the WNO performances
of Die Walküre -- including Opening-Night Cast Party, events, exhibits, and
programs with the WNO,
the Goethe-Institut, and the
Wagner Society.
The Goethe-Institut is showing a "Wagner in Film" program: March 12, 19, 26. It highlights Wagner's influence on 20th century film scores. Michael Jeck will introduce the film series, which includes Apocalypse Now and Romeo and Juliet. Tickets $6.
Thomas May; "Visualizing Die Walküre"
- Thursday, March 22, 2007; at the GWU Funger Hall
Thomas May, Senior Editor, Amazon.com, and author of books, including
Decoding Wagner (Amadeus Press), considered how Die Walküre, the second
part of Wagner’s great tetratology Der Ring des Nibelungen, figures in the work of
some famous designers and directors -- including Adolphe Appia, Sergei Eisenstein, and
Wieland Wagner.
Donald Crosby, "Wagner in Switzerland: Genius in
Residence"
- Thursday, February 15, 2007; at the GWU Funger Hall
Professor Crosby focused on Wagner's "Switzerland years", among
his most productive periods musically, and one which included colorful personalities that are
inseparable from his life -- including the Wesendoncks, the von Bülows, Semper, and
Nietzsche. Professor Crosby has presented programs to the Smithsonian Institution, the WNO,
and the Wagner Society since its beginning in 1998. A good crowd who braved the "streets of ice"
to attend were well rewarded!
Tim Page, Music Critic, "The Artistry of Thomas
Stewart"
- Friday, January 19, 2006, at the GWU Funger Hall, to
a large gathering of Stewart admirers.
Tim Page, the Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic of The Washington Post
introduced this special program of excerpts of Thomas Stewart singing operas by various
composers. The program included video and audio recordings, displayed with rare photographs
from the private collection of Evelyn Lear, that showed the famous pair at work with many of
the musical giants of the 20th Century.
Donald Collup, "Never before": The Life and
First New York Career of Astrid Varnay,
Robert Bailey, The Valkyries and Their Infamous Ride
13th ESP Concert, and Reception
Saul Lilienstein, on The Appropriation of Wagner:
Germany in the 1930s
An Evening with
Jeffrey Swann, on "Chopin as Proto-Wagnerian"
- Thursday, December 7, 2006, 7:30 pm; at GWU Funger Hall.
A documentary on the legendary artist, Astrid Varnay, was shown, with commentary by Donald
Collup, the producer of the documentary -- with excerpts from studio recordings and Met broadcasts.
Ms. Varnay, who just died on September 6, had said that Mr. Collup " .. tells it like it
is..".
- WEDNESDAY, November 8, 2006, at GWU Funger Hall.
Robert Bailey, Chaired Professor of Music, NYU, and member, Juilliard School, Graduate
Faculty, showed how the little-known Orchestral piece called "The Ride of the Valkyries"
relates to Act III of Wagner's opera Die Walküre.
- FRIDAY, October 20, 2006, 7:30 pm; at the German Embassy,
4645 Reservoir Road, NW.
The 13th Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Concert presented a stunning
all-Wagner program of selections from Die Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Das Rheingold,
Tannhäuser, and Tristan und Isolde. The solos and scenes were performed by four American
singers with demonstrated potential for distinguished careers singing Wagner's music.
- Thursday, October 19, 2006, 7:30pm, at The George Washington
University Funger Hall, 2201 G Street, NW
Saul Lilienstein, Wagner Society Awardee and compelling and popular lecturer, illustrated the
artistic currents and political distortions of the 1930s, focusing on Lohengrin and
Die Meistersinger, with audio and visual excerpts.
- Thursday, September 21, 2006, at the Embassy of the Federal
Republic of Germany
Jeffrey Swann is renowned throughout Europe and the United
States as a piano recitalist, recording artist, composer, Wagner scholar, and lecturer. He has
been one of the primary lecturers at the annual Wagner Society "Wildnis" retreats and
has participated in our joint seminars with the Smithsonian and at Society monthly lectures.
His recent NY Beethoven and Chopin cycles received rave reviews from the NY Times.
This recital was enjoyed by a full house of happy music enthusiasts.
Bayreuther Festspiel, August 18-28, 2006 Twenty-five of our Members attended and enjoyed Wagner's operas at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth Germany. Our Bayreuth briefing buffet for this year's Members holding tickets was held on July 30.
The 12th Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging
Singers Concert
- Wednesday, June 14, 7:30 p.m., at the Oakcrest School in
McLean VA
This, the 12th, Emerging Singers Concert, was performed with
the McLean Orchestra, led by Sylvia Alimena, the acclaimed Conductor and Music
Director of the McLean Orchestra. Singers included Kara Harmon, soprano; Jennifer Roderer,
mezzo-soprano; Gail Sullivan, soprano; David Smith, tenor; and Lucianna Cecille, soprano, who was
featured as the wood bird.
The Wagner Society's 6th annual "Wagner in der
Wildnis".
- Friday-Sunday, June 2-4: at Cacapon Resort State Park, West Virginia
Sixty Members enjoyed another superb weekend, in a lovely setting,
discussing and learning still more about Wagner and Parsifal from favorite presenters, concert
pianist Jeffrey Swann and Professor Simon Williams.
Professor Carolyn Abbate, on "New Perspectives on
"The Flying Dutchman": Reverberations"
- Thursday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.: at Funger Hall, The George
Washington University.
Carolyn Abbate, Professor of Music, Harvard University -- always a welcome speaker,
investigating and discussing the cinema's use of Wagner's music, used this as a starting point to
delve into "Dutchman". This talk was not to be missed!
WSWDC Banquet;
- Friday, May 12, 7:00 - 11:00 p.m., at the Arts Club of Washington
The WSWDC annual banquet was held again at the Arts Club of Washington DC, in the
historic Monroe home. The evening began with good company, hors d'oeuvres, and conversation in the
outside patio; followed by a performance by Emerging Singer tenor, Jason Saxon, introduced by Evelyn
Lear and Thomas Stewart, with pianist Betty Bullock; and ending with a delicious dinner, and remarks
from the Society's Chairman Jim Holman and President Aury Fernandez.
John Edward Niles on "The Carriers of the Flame: Humperdinck,
Pfitzner, and von Schillings"
- Thursday, April 13, 2006, 7:30 p.m., at The George Washington University
Mr. Niles discussed -- with musical illustrations -- the three composers considered
to be Wagner's successors. Mr. Niles is a WSWDC Board Member, Program Director of WSWDC's Evelyn Lear
& Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program, and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Opera Theatre of
Northern Virginia.
Simon Williams, "Coming to Terms with History: Nietzche
and the Ring"
- Thursday, February 23, 2006, at The George Washington University, Funger
Hall, Washington DC
Simon Williams, Chairman of the Drama Department of the University of California,
Santa Barbara, and regular co-lecturer (drama) with Jeffrey Swann (music) on the "Dream Team"
of the Society's annual Wagner in der Wildnis weekend, discussed his view of Nietzsche and
Wagner's Ring.
Irwin Shainman, on "Wagner and Strauss Songs: Women and
Love"
- Thursday, January 19, 2006, at The George Washington University, Funger
Hall
Irwin Shainmen, Professor Emeritus of Williams College, Massachusetts,
musician, conductor, and frequent lecturer in the NSO's "Performance Plus" series,
dissected and compared Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs
-- using recordings to illustrate.
Alan Walker, on "Liszt as Wagner's Cultural
Ambassador"
- Thursday, November 10, 2005, at the Levine School,
Washington DC
Alan Walker, Professor Emeritus of Music at McMaster
University, Canada, in a most engaging presentation, discussed the help that Liszt extended to
Wagner, that Wagner himself acknowledged, especially during the 1860s. Walker illustrated his
points with CD recordings.
The 11th Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart
Emerging Singers Concert
Friday, October 14, 2005, at the German Embassy, Washington DC
Phillip W. Raines, on "Magical Moments and Video
Moments in Wagner"
- Thursday, October 20, 2005, at the Levine School,
Washington DC
Phil Raines, Wagner Society Board Member and popular lecturer
on Wagner opera productions, showed and discussed a collection of powerful video moments of
Wagner productions. The presentation included conductors von Karajan, Toscanini, Solti, and
Levine, and some "magical moments" in live video-taped performances.
Iain Scott, on "Richard Wagner and the Inspiration
of Italy"
- Thursday, September 15, 2005, at the George Washinton
University Monroe Hall
Iain Scott, one of Canada's most popular opera educators and a
frequent guest on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera,
gave a video-illustrated lecture on the influence of the Mediterranean psyche on Richard Wagner.
What Do I Listen for Next? Wagner Society Board Member Phillip W. Raines led a series of (non-Wagner Society) events accompanying the Second Cycle of the Seattle Opera's production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. The events included a banquet and seminars.
Bayreuth Festival 2005 A briefing-buffet was held on Sunday, July 31, for Members holding tickets for this year's Bayreuth Festival. They attended the five non-Ring opera performances from August 17 through 21.
Seattle Ring 2005 For Members (only) holding tickets for this year's Ring cycle, there was a buffet briefing on Sunday, August 7.
Tristan und Isolde Weekend
- Friday-Sunday, February 11-13, 2005.
The Wagner Society of Washington DC (WSWDC) joined forces with the
Smithsonian Resident Associate Program for a very successful two-day seminar with leading Wagner
experts followed by a performance by the Virginia Opera of Tristan und Isolde, which
included singers Thomas Rolf Truhitte and Charles Robert Austin -- two participants in the Evelyn
Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program. See details on the
Seminar page.
Gala Benefit -- Honoring James Morris
bass-baritone,
Recipient of the 2005 Wagner Society Award
- June 8, 2005, at The Grand Hyatt hotel, Washington DC.
The Gala Benefit program featured a silent auction; the
presentation of the Wagner Society Award to James Morris, by Thomas
Stewart (pictured, respectively, left.); and a vocal performance by
guest artist, David Smith, from the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program, who was introduced by Evelyn
Lear. A light buffet and complimentary open bar were included.
See another picture of Morris and Stewart,
presenting the award.
The Wagner Society of Washington DC
P.O. Box 58213
Washington DC 20037
Phone: 301-907-2600 FAX: 301-907-8671
http://www.wagner-dc.org
Questions? ..or to add your name to our mailing list, send contact information to the Webmeister.
