NEWS FROM THE WAGNR SOCIETY

For More Information call:

Thomas Arthur (press)

Aurelius Fernandez (other) at 301.907.2600

WASHINGTON, D.C., AUGUST 2005 –––– The Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. announces the opening event of its fall season, a return visit for a free lecture by

Iain Scott

Richard Wagner and the Inspiration of Italy

at Funger Hall on the campus of the George Washington University, 22nd and G Streets, N.W., at 7:30 P.M. on Thursday, September 15, 2005.

The Presentation. Iain Scott will present a video-illustrated lecture showing the great influence of the Mediterranean psyche on Richard Wagner. Wagner, like many Germans, was fascinated by Italy. Some of his aesthetic experiences there led to very important musical moments in Wagner’s major works. Italian aesthetic experiences were serious motivational triggers in the mind of Richard Wagner. Wagner is said to have received his inspiration for the opening music of The Ring during an illness at La Spezia, near Genoa, when he thought of the famous E-flat chord representing the beginning of the world in Das Rheingold. His inspiration for composing Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is said to have come to him while viewing Titian’s great painting of The Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari Church in Venice. The interior of the cathedral at Sienna inspired him to compose Act I of Parsifal. Similarly, on a drive along the Amalfi Coast, Wagner’s sighting of the gardens at Ravello became his inspiration for Klingsor’s garden, the scene of the second act of Parsifal. Mr. Scott believes these and many other now-forgotten moments and events had a profound influence on the work of Richard Wagner.

The Lecturer. Iain Scott is one of Canada’s best-known and most popular opera educators. For 20 years, Mr. Scott has been a regular and frequent guest on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. For eight years, he was a guest panelist on the Texaco Opera Quiz on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts from New York. He chairs the Advisory Board for the opera school of the University of Toronto and serves on the Board of the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto. He is in great demand as a lecturer for opera companies, guilds and societies across North America. He is the founder and proprietor of Opera-IS: Opera Courses, Opera Tours and Opera Guides.

The Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. is a private, non-profit organization for the study and enjoyment of Wagner's art. The Society sponsors a series of lectures, the Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program, and other events. Many programs are free to the public.

The Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. ♫ P.O. Box 33051 ♫ Washington, D.C. 20033

Telephone 301.907.2600 ♫ Facsimile 301.907.8671

www.wagner-dc.org