Wagneriana. O! nun waren wir Spring 2010 Nacht-geweihte. Volume 7, Number 2 Tristan und Isolde. From the Editor

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1 From left to right: Jeffrey Brody, Joanna Porackova, Andrea Matthews, Rachel Selan, and Alan Schneider at the end of the May 21 concert at the Longy School of Music Wagneriana O! nun waren wir Spring 2010 Nacht-geweihte. Volume 7, Number 2 Tristan und Isolde From the Editor On May 21 members of the Boston Wagner Society and the general public thrilled to the sounds of the expansive and beautiful voices of our four hugely talented singers Heldentenor Alan Schneider, Sopranos Andrea Matthews and Joanna Porackova, and Mezzo-Soprano Rachel Selan expertly accompanied by Jeffrey Brody on the Longy s concert-grand Steinway. This was a terrific performance, a concert that will not be easily forgotten. The large heroic voices washed over the audience, who seemed stunned by the music being produced and the sensitive dramatizations of the characters of Rienzi, Elsa, Lohengrin, Brünnhilde, Tristan, Isolde, and Brangäne. Here are comments by our members: A thrilling recital! My heart was thumping during the Tristan Love Duet. It was so emotional, particularly the two duets. Such a wonderful Wagnerian evening. For a review of this concert, see page 2. For more photos, see page 8. Those of us who attended Longwood Opera s Tales from Der Ring des Nibelungen heard Alan Schneider (Siegmund and Siegfried), Joanna Porackova (Brünnhilde and the Third Norn), and Rachel Selan (Wellgunde) sing Wagner again, with Jeffrey Brody at the piano. The concert was in English, with a piano reduction by Peter Pachl, the vice president of the International Siegfried Wagner Society, and by pianist and conductor Rainer Armbrust, who is also the program adviser of the Boston Wagner Society. This was a heroic performance that lasted almost four hours and included numerous dramatic highlights from the Ring Cycle. Many of the singers, including the above three, were in splendid voice and character. Jeffrey Brody s fingers flew fast and furious to play this incredibly complicated music. Lectures for Bayreuth Goers The Wagner Society of New York will present a series of lectures in English that will accompany the last set of performances at the Bayreuth Festival this summer. This series is dedicated to the memory of Wolfgang Wagner, who gave his approval for the lectures. The speaker this year is John J. H. Muller, who has been on the music history faculty of the Juilliard School for 30 years. Professor Muller has lectured for many organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera Guild, where he presented talks during the Kirov Ring Cycle and the Metropolitan Opera s most recent Ring Cycles. His essay on Parsifal

2 has appeared in the book Wagner Outside the Ring (edited by John Louis DiGaetani). The lectures are from 10:30 a.m. to noon, at the Arvena Kongress Hotel, Edfuard Bayerlein-Strasse 5A, Bayreuth. The cost is 12 euros per lecture. Here are the dates: August 20 Das Rheingold August 21 Die Walküre August 23 Siegfried August 25 Götterdämmerung August 26 Parsifal August 27 Lohengrin August 28 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg BWS Events in the Fall We are busily planning events for the fall of The Boston Wagner Society turns seven on September 20, and we are reminded of Wagner s words from Der fliegende Holländer: Die Frist ist um, und abermals verstrichen / sind sieben Jahr! (The term is past, and once again are ended / the seven long years!). We might change the last words to seven short years, as the time has flown by too quickly. To cele-brate our seventh anniversary, we bring you a lecture by the filmmaker, writer, and musician Hilan Warshaw, titled From Bayreuth to Hollywood: Richard Wagner and the Art of Cinema. This event will include extended excerpts from a 1964 film of Der fliegende Holländer, made in East Germany by Joachim Herz. The tentative date is Saturday afternoon, September 25, Details will be announced. On the afternoon of October 16, we will have a lecture and book signing by Professor Nicholas Vazsonyi, whose work Richard Wagner: Self-Promotion and the Making of a Brand (just published by Cambridge University Press) was very well received. For a review of this book, see page 5. Details of the event will be announced. Dalia Geffen Exquisite Love Duets & Solos by Richard Wagner Alan Schneider, Heldentenor; Andrea Matthews, soprano; Joanna Porackova, soprano; Rachel Selan, soprano; Jeffrey Brody, piano; May 21, 2010, Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music In Exquisite Love Duets & Solos by Richard Wagner, the Boston Wagner Society (BWS) tackled a difficult program of Wagner excerpts. Accompanied by the redoubtable pianist Jeffrey Brody, they managed to pull it off with spirit and passion. The first choice may have struck listeners new to Wagner as odd: Rienzi, Wagner s third opera. However, it was his first successful one, and many thought it owed much of its musical atmosphere to Wagner s mentor Giacomo Meyerbeer. In fact, wags joked that, with its traces of the bel canto style, Rienzi was Meyerbeer s most successful work. However, the BWS s performance of Rienzi s Prayer showed Wagner s style beginning to take a new path, away from the melodic swoop of bel canto and into the individualized surge of the through-composed. Tenor Alan Schneider handled this soliloquy-like piece with restraint and razor-edged diction. The core of the evening was four pieces from Lohengrin, Wagner s last traditional opera before he started forging music dramas like the Ring Cycle. Soprano Andrea Matthews sang Elsa s Dream, one of Wagner s loveliest arias, with sweet passion and longing. She rendered the songlike piece with the skill that comes from long experience. She provided a gracious stage presence and warmly generous singing. Brody s piano improvisations stood in for the interchanges between king, chorus, and the villainous Telramund. Matthews s contrast in the repeated line Er soll mein Streiter sein! (He will be my champion!) determined, then tender, was striking. The oft-performed Bridal Chamber duet between Lohengrin and Elsa went well. Like Wagner s other two rescued-women operas Die Walküre and Siegfried there are moments of sheer over-the-cliff lyricism. But unlike (for example) Die Walküre s love scene between Siegmund and Sieglinde, the Bridal Chamber duet is fraught with dramatic tension between lovers, as Elsa manipulates to discover Lohengrin s name. Matthews delivered her staccato lines 2

3 during the conflict s peak like brads from a nail gun. Each one struck Schneider s Lohengrin dead on, and he responded with manly timing. Lohengrin s song In fernem Land is a poignant and complex aria. Schneider began it as an assertive declaration, with conventionally balanced lines. Then he carried it into a freer, more rhapsodic zone, as the piano evoked the transcendent realm of his origin: In fernem Land, unnahbar euren Schritten, / liegt eine Burg, die Monsalvat genannt (In a far-off land, to mortal feet forbidden, / there is a castle, Monsalvat by name). In the final piece, Mein lieber Schwan (My beloved swan), Lohengrin s farewell to the impulsive Elsa, Schneider conveyed a heady sweetness of tone. He sang with near-perfect poise and legato. Soprano Joanna Porackova performed Ewig war ich (Immortal was I) from Siegfried intriguingly. Revolving around Brünnhilde s hesitations to yield to Siegfried s love, it is one of the most beauteous scenes in the opera. Porackova definitely emoted! Throughout the excerpt, she gradually built striking contrasts, showing not just Brünnhilde but any young passionate woman in conflict with her emotions. The Love Duet and Brangäne s Watch, from Tristan und Isolde, comes at a crucial moment in the opera. Tristan and Isolde, under influence of the metaphorical magical potion of love intoxication, declare their love for one another and are so immersed in the moment, they fail to see the approach of King Mark and his minions. Schneider was persuasive as the callow Tristan, eyes clouded by a comely princess. Mezzo-Soprano Rachel Selan did a womanlike job on the understated role of Brangäne. Once again, Porackova transfixed the scene with longing, but this time she was more carnal in her approach. Her shocking high notes, intensely rendered fortissimos, and robust legatos imbued the listeners with palpable eroticism. Her voice was both highly trained and volatile. There was no telling in what manner she d approach a tricky passage, except that it would be extraordinary. How I d love to see her act in a fully stage version! The work of pianist Jeffrey Brody is worth noting. Wagner obviously never transcribed his work for piano, so what does it mean when someone plays a piano reduction? Franz Liszt composed transcriptions of music from Tristan und Isolde (most notably the Liebestod), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Parsifal, and the Ring operas, but these included everything, the singing as well as the orchestral parts. So just where did the event s piano accompaniment music come from? I asked Brody, and got this intriguing reply: As for reductions, I essentially make up my own as I go along, varying at times from what is on the page. The Lohengrin duet reduction was by Theodore Uhlig (Peters Volksbühne edition), and the Tristan was by Richard Kleinmichael. The Siegfried was by Karl Klindworth. But I always take freely and modify according to circumstances, need, and level of keyboard difficulty. Thus, in all of these there is some of my own, so it s never the same way twice, particularly the Tristan. The more intense the performance from the singers, the more I add and embellish. Sometimes the thicker and more detailed reductions can be more of a hindrance to the singers, so I leave out things. Speaking of leaving out things, I overheard a few concertgoers complaining about the lack of text reproduction in the program notes, since the BWS has provided such text before. In their place were detailed scene exegeses from the academician Gina Canepa and soprano and voice teacher emerita Joy McIntyre. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. At a performance of Tristan und Isolde, Wagner allegedly said to fellow platonist Mathilde Wesendonck: Don t worry about the words. They re not important. Listen to the music! And Canepa s and McIntyre s explanations were sufficient in most cases. Who needs to read every line of Rienzi s Prayer? On the other hand, neophyte Wagnerians feel more secure reading along as a piece is being performed. There is no easy solution for this, but most likely the lack didn t mar this memorable evening in any significant way. Peter Bates Peter Bates, a member of the Boston Wagner Society and its former vice president, is a writer and music critic. To see his reviews, go to For more photos of the concert, please see the photo gallery at 3

4 Heldentenor Stephen Gould Erik Outshines the Dutchman at the Met Der fliegende Holländer, May 10, 2010; Metropolitan Opera, cond. Kazushi Ono; Dutchman: Juha Uusitalo; Senta: Deborah Voigt; Daland: Hans-Peter König; Erik: Stephen Gould; Mary: Wendy White; Steersman: Russell Thomas; Production: August Everding; Chorus Master: Donald Palumbo The outstanding and most surprising aspect of the Metropolitan Opera s performance of Der fliegende Holländer this spring was the riveting performance of Stephen Gould as Erik. Usually this character is presented as an unsympathetic, self-pitying, and lovesick male. Gould s Erik, by contrast, was a believable character who really loved Senta and worried about her infatuation with the Dutchman legend. Gould achieved this characterization with passionate and lyrical singing, excellent phrasing, and an exciting tenorial timbre. After so much exciting singing in act 2, I looked forward to his act 3 scene, which usually holds up the action. Not so in this case. Deborah Voigt as Senta sang with a light vocal weight that built to a powerful climax at the end of her Ballad and before she jumped into the sea, declaring her faith in the Dutchman. Her acting, however, seemed stiff, especially in the act 2 duet with the Dutchman. It was distant and lacking in involvement. The notes, phrasing, and intonation were all there, but a lack of commitment was evident. However, in her act 2 duet with Erik, emotional sparks between her and Gould flew over the footlights, with dramatic interest in every vocal line. For once, this episode came across as an important part of the whole operatic drama. There was a problem with Juha Uusitalo s Dutchman. He lacked the bottom notes that this role requires, and one could tell he was scraping the lower end of this range. He also was uninvolved with the character. This may have been the fault of August Everding s production. Yet the secondary characters, as well as the chorus, were engaging. Hans-Peter König gave a well-rounded, middle-class characterization of the sea captain, Daland. König has an appealing vocal timbre, which he used in well-phrased lines, often adding a much-needed jocularity to the proceedings. However, Everding or the stage director, Stephen Pickover, did not make the most of his abilities. Russell Thomas sang the role of the Steersman with a light and lyrical voice, which he combined with excellent acting skills. Mary, sung 4 Deborah Voigt as Senta in the Metropolitan Opera s Der fliegende Holländer with strength by Wendy White, was somewhat one-sided and weak in characterization. Her confinement to a wheelchair may have contributed to this. The orchestra played well and presented an exciting overture, presaging great things. But the conductor, Kazushi Ono, did not allow this to continue. Throughout the rest of the opera, he maintained a density and weight of sound that became wearying. There was no lift or bounce for the folklike parts of the chorus, especially the act 3 celebration of the sailors and women. The chorus, under the direction of Donald Palumbo, was well prepared, sang with gusto when needed, and delivered dynamic shading. The women s voices in the act 2 Spinning Chorus blended very well. The only minus was the weakness of the phantom male chorus in the final act. Vocally, the sailors should have won the singing match. Scenically, acts 1 and 3 were gray and dreary. The expectation of the arrival of the Dutchman s ship, so greatly prepared by Wagner s score, was a scenic letdown. And the set designer, Hans Schavernoch, miscalculated by placing act 2 in a sewing factory. Besides narrowing down the temporal element and visually distracting the audience with mounds of fabric all over the place, he introduced a subtle social comment that is extraneous to the opera. I offer my congratulations to the Met management. Before the performance, the ushers let everyone know that the performance was without intermission. This was a great relief to those in attendance. David Collins, M. Ed. David Collins, a member of the Boston Wagner Society, is the resident lecturer for Opera Boston and teaches opera appreciation in the Greater Boston area.

5 A Rare and Bold Monograph: Wagner and Self-Promotion Nicholas Vazsonyi, Richard Wagner: Self-Promotion and the Making of a Brand (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 222 pages; list price $95 The literature on Wagner has become so vast and so discouraging since much of it is derivative, if not crackpot that discerning students of the composer are perpetually on the lookout for the rare and bold monograph that would illuminate the entire dazzling Wagner phenomenon from a vantage point that is new. They need look no further than the present book, in which Nicholas Vazsonyi takes a comprehensive look at Wagner s amazing skill and inventiveness as he tackled the task of self-promotion. We all like to think that the sheer artistic excellence and sophistication of the stage works were sufficient to ensure their success. And maybe, in the end, they were. But this is not how it appeared to the main actors on the fast-moving musical scene in postfeudal, 19 th -century Europe. Paganini, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, Verdi you name them: they all realized that in order to succeed in the increasingly crowded business of music, self-promotion was a necessity. As it turned out, Wagner was better at it than the competition. In fact, he became his own best PR man; what s more, he came to command a distinguished phalanx of friends and supporters who were eager to beat the drum for him none of them greater than Friedrich Nietzsche with the bang that is The Birth of Tragedy. It is one of the many admirable qualities of Vazsonyi s book that the author refuses to regard Wagner s full-scale, full-throttled self-promotion as a flaw of his personality some sort of symptom of near-clinical megalomania. Rather, he examines Wagner s varied activities on this front in the changing contexts of his career as an artist in order to show the careful and strategic thinking that went into the effort. Wagner realized early on that he needed as the poet William Wordsworth put it to create the taste by which he is to be enjoyed (p. 3). In this he succeeded brilliantly. He was also clever enough though some would say shameless enough to use his anticapitalist and anticommercial convictions to further the creation of an entirely new market and to talk the public into buying his incomparable products, which, as he kept repeating, were simply cultural must-haves. Vazsonyi looks at five intersecting areas of activity (p. 7) that cumulatively ensured the success of the music dramas not just in Wagner s lifetime but also in his afterlife, for the benefit of his family, of Germany, and of Western culture. The first chapter deals with the early period of his career, chiefly the dire years in Paris. Vazsonyi describes in fascinating detail the creation of a persona, that is, of an image of himself, or rather images of himself, among them the highly suggestive notion of Richard Wagner as the most German of artists. Chapter 2 illustrates Wagner s increasingly sophisticated knack for publicity (p. 45) and talent for spin (p. 57) during his Dresden years, as evidenced in his selffashioning as the legitimate heir to Carl Maria von Weber as well as to Beethoven. Chapter 3 is entitled Niche and Branding and describes how Wagner in his revolutionary theoretical work created for himself a widening niche that would soon become, at least for a time, the center of the musical world. Chapter 4, entitled Consumers and Consumption, is perhaps the subtlest and most fascinating of all. It uncovers the marketing embedded in the theatrical works themselves (p. 7), as, for instance, in the musical depiction of the Grail in the Prelude to Lohengrin. To quote Parsifal, the simpleton: Wer ist der Gral? (Who is the Grail?). Why, of course, it is none other than the music of Richard Wagner! Predictably, this alertness to the marketing value of Wagner s work yields exceptionally rich results when Vazsonyi analyzes the egregiously self-promotional Meistersinger and Parsifal. The title of the concluding chapter, Hub, nicely defines Bayreuth as the center of what Vazsonyi aptly describes as the Wagner Industry, complete with the establishment of the Bayreuth Festival, the recruitment of well-heeled patrons, the launching of Wagner societies, the creation of a journal the infamous Bayreuther Blätter unabashedly dedicated to propaganda, and supplementary dynastic measures, all of which, in retrospect, appear as the culmination of a project inauspiciously undertaken by a poor German musician in Paris. 5

6 The scholarship of Vazsonyi s study is solid; he knows the literature and is well read in current theory. Despite this, I am happy to report, his book is largely free of scholarly jargon. It also is relatively short, especially given the magnitude of the subject. Most important, it offers us a truly novel and illuminating take on the great, wily magician. This book is a most welcome addition to the library of literature on Wagner. Hans Rudolf Vaget Hans Rudolf Vaget is professor emeritus of German studies at Smith College, a co-founder of the Goethe Society of North America, and a Wagner lecturer and author. Wolfgang Wagner ( ): A Tribute Wolfgang Wagner, son of Siegfried and Cosima Wagner and grandson of Richard Wagner, passed away peacefully in Bayreuth, Germany, on March 21, 2010, at the age of 90. Though he had ceded control of the Bayreuth Festival in 2008 to his daughters, Eva and Katharina, his passing definitively brings the curtain down on the era of Das neue Bayreuth. His tenure as co-leader with his brother, Wieland ( ), and then by himself ( ) made him perhaps the most important opera impresario of the 20th century. When Bayreuth reopened in 1951, the brothers sought to dramatically distance the festival from its troubled recent past. Though initially they were to co-lead in all matters, their natural affinities soon defined their respective roles: Wieland became de facto artistic director, and Wolfgang headed the administrative and financial concerns of the festival. The first productions of this new era (Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, directed by Wieland) were characterized by the use of abstract geometric shapes, minimal props, and, most important, an Richard Wagner s grandson Wolfgang Wagner imaginative use of color and lighting. The new aesthetic was based on a stripping away of conventions, on creating an uncluttered experience in which the audience focused on the characters and drama. Although Wolfgang was supremely less talented as a director than Wieland, he did produce several operas that shared elements with Wieland s work. Wolfgang s first forays as director were Lohengrin (1953), Der fliegende Holländer (1955), Tristan und Isolde (1957), and a Ring Cycle (1960). These possessed a similar visual simplicity and use of lighting as Wieland s, while striving to retain some more traditional elements. For example, in Lohengrin Wolfgang used a relatively uncluttered stage and dramatic lighting and projections, along with more natural elements, such as a literal portrayal of characters and how they were blocked on the stage, and the use of props, such as an old-style swan and real swords. Likewise, Wolfgang s staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen in 1960 was superficially similar to Wieland s, with sparse sets and an emphasis on lighting and color, but the comparisons ended there. Wolfgang was decidedly less inspired with his stage direction and the clashing of realism with symbolism and abstraction. Generally, Wolfgang s productions were not nearly as popular with critics and stalwarts (and in the case of The Ring, Wolfgang s unsuccessful 1960 staging was compared most unfavorably with the brilliance of Wieland s 1951 and 1966 productions). After Wieland died in October 1966, there was growing concern that the level of excellence would decline dramatically, and many worried that the festival would regress creatively. Wolfgang would continue to unveil his own productions, contrasting the New Bayreuth simplicity and symbolism with realism (as in his 1967 Lohengrin). Many of his later productions would reincorporate many more traditional visual elements. It was inevitable (and in hindsight) fortunate that Wolfgang would eventually turn to outside directors to help shoulder the artistic burden of designing and staging new productions. Wolfgang s role as chief administrator, and his employment and nurturing of visiting directors, is by far his greatest strength during his years as leader of the festival. He had unparalleled administrative foresight, establishing historic partnerships with some of the world s leading theater. 6

7 Patrice Chéreau s centennial Ring at the Bayreuth Festival Patrice Chéreau s centenary Ring in 1976 is arguably the most important Wagner production in the second half of the last century (and Chéreau was not the first choice Wolfgang had first approached Ingmar Bergman). The Chéreau Ring at first was reviled by critics and audiences for its modern aspects (for example, the use of a hydroelectric dam in Rheingold and Götterdammerung, the black-tied Gibichungs, disheveled business suit of Hagen, and so on). By the final performances in 1980, it was considered a major success. Chéreau and the conductor Pierre Boulez found great support in Wolfgang during the refinement of the production over the five seasons. As head of the festival, Wolfgang gave his unqualified support to Chéreau s working process. That basic principle of being an excellent manager of talent was evident throughout his entire tenure as head of the festival. Wolfgang nurtured relationships with many directors, whose productions have continued to break the anachronistic mold in which traditional Wagner performances had been cast during the first 75 years. Many of these are now viewed as groundbreaking creative milestones. It is difficult to fathom what Bayreuth would be like today were it not for Wolfgang s effective leadership. As chief administrator, he secured its financial stability as well as fostered its role as one of the world s premiere artistic institutions. One cannot imagine the last 40 years of Bayreuth without his stewardship. Wolfgang Wagner Productions at Bayreuth Lohengrin ( ) Der fliegende Holländer ( ) Tristan und Isolde ( ) Der Ring des Nibelungen ( ) Lohengrin ( , ) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ( , ) Der Ring des Nibelungen ( ) Parsifal ( ) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ( , ) Tannhäuser ( , 1989, , 1995) Parsifal ( ) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1996) Directors Brought to Bayreuth by Wolfgang Wagner August Everding (Der fliegende Holländer 1969, Tristan und Isolde 1974) Götz Friedrich (Tannhäuser 1972, Lohengrin 1979, Parsifal 1982) Patrice Chéreau (Der Ring des Nibelungen 1976) Peter Konwitschny (Lohengrin 1979) Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (Tristan und Isolde 1981) Peter Hall (Der Ring des Nibelungen 1983) Harry Kupfer (Der fliegende Holländer 1978, Der Ring des Nibelungen 1988) Werner Herzog (Lohengrin 1987) Dieter Dorn (Der fliegende Holländer 1990) Heiner Müller (Tristan und Isolde 1993) Alfred Kirchner (Der Ring des Nibelungen 1994) Keith Warner (Lohengrin 1999) Jürgen Flimm (Der Ring des Nibelungen 2000) Philippe Arlaud (Tannhäuser 2002) 7

8 Claus Guth (Der fliegende Holländer 2003) Christoph Schlingensief (Parsifal 2004) Christoph Marthaler (Tristan und Isolde 2005) Tankred Dorst (Der Ring des Nibelungen 2006) Katharina Wagner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg 2007) Stefan Herheim (Parsifal 2008) Brian Reasoner Brian Reasoner, a new member of the Boston Wagner Society, teaches chamber music and orchestra at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photos of the May 21 Concert Soprano Joanna Porackova singing Ewig war ich from Siegfried Jeffrey Brody, pianist; Alan Schneider, Heldentenor; Joanna Porackova, soprano; and Rachel Selan, mezzosoprano, during the Tristan und Isolde Love Duet All concert photos are by Thomas Kwei Soprano Andrea Matthews and Heldentenor Alan Schneider during the Bridal Chamber Scene from Lohengrin Future Events From Bayreuth to Hollywood: Richard Wagner and the Art of Cinema Lecture and film screening of excerpts from Der fliegende Holländer, by Hilan Warshaw Saturday, September 25, 2010 Details to come Richard Wagner: Self-Promotion and the Making of a Brand Lecture and book signing by Nicholas Vazsonyi Saturday, October 16, 2010 Details to come Wagneriana is a publication of the Boston Wagner Society, copyright The Boston Wagner Society, Inc. Publisher and Editor: Dalia Geffen Proofreader: Erika Reitshamer Logo design: Sasha Geffen We welcome contributions to Wagneriana. Please contact us at info@bostonwagnersociety.org or Web: Address: Boston Wagner Society, P.O. Box , Boston, MA , U.S.A. 8