Remembering Stephen Gould with Peter Phillips

A discussion with Peter Phillips about collaborating with Stephen Gould on his book "Performing Wagner: A Singer's Perspective on the Major Tenor Roles".

The book: The book is based in part on Stephen Gould's conversations with Peter Phillips, who is co-author. Mr.  Phillips initiated the project during COVID because, he said, "I had never encountered a systematic analysis of the performance challenges of these particular roles, written by someone who repeatedly performed them." In the book, Stephen Gould shares his insights into his preparation for and performance of Wagner's major tenor roles, including Tannhäuser, Tristan, Siegfried, Siegmund, Lohengrin, Erik in The Flying Dutchman, and Parsifal. He includes his artistic development, maturation and basis for interpretation of the roles in a manner that matches Wagner’s music with narrative cohesion on stage. He also discusses what he learned from working with conductors and stage directors, and offers some thoughts on vocal technique. The book opens with a foreword by Katharina Wagner, and concludes with tributes to Stephen Gould from some of the leading Wagner singers of the day.

The speaker: Peter Phillips is the President of the Wagner Society of New York.

If you wish to read the book ahead of time, please consider purchasing it from the Wagner Society of New York, available here.