EVENTS
What does it take to stage manage a grand opera like the Ring Cycle?
Anna Frey will present us with a glimpse of her successful career as a stage manager, having wrangled singers, musicians, stagehands and digital sets in the Ring Cycles in Bendigo, Brisbane and in Erl (Austria) in the last few years.
Date/Time: Sunday 28 April 2024, 4:30-6:30pm
Venue: Multipurpose Room 1, Kathleen Syme Centre, 251 Faraday Street, Carlton VIC 3053
NOTE: You don’t need to log in to make a booking.
Come and have a fun lunch at the German Club Tivoli to celebrate an early Christmas (to avoid clashing with the Brisbane Ring). There will be food, drinks, a sing-along and other entertainment.
Date / time: Sunday 26 November, 12:00pm
Venue: German Club Tivoli, 291 Dandenong Road, Prahran 3181
Join us for this private screening of the new production of Rheingold from the Royal Opera House. Celebrated Australian director Barrie Kosky joins forces with conductor Antonio Pappano in a bold new imagining of the first chapter of Wagner's Ring cycle, a work which boasts some of the greatest music ever written for the opera stage. When a precious hoard of gold is stolen from the river Rhine, it unleashes a chain of destructive events, pitting gods and mortals against one another for generations. The outstanding cast includes Christopher Maltman as Wotan, Marina Prudenskaya as Fricka and Christopher Purves as Alberich. This production marks the start of a new Ring cycle for The Royal Opera.
Refreshments will also be served.
On 24 September we will be screening this very interesting documentary followed by refreshments.
Date & time: Sunday 24 September 4pm
Venue: the Performance Space, Library at the Docklands
Global Wagner – From Bayreuth to the World, a film by Axel Brüggemann, is not a biography of Richard Wagner, nor is it a musicological analysis of his work. This is a documentary dedicated solely to the world’s fascination with the man, and an exploration of the question as to how such massive hype and world-wide cult following developed around this highly controversial artist. The film is a revealing feature-length study of life with Wagner’s legacy from one Bayreuth Festival to the next, and we travel the world to meet devoted Wagnerians and those most intimately involved in commenting on and producing his work today.
The Richard Wagner Society Inc’s annual birthday lunch to celebrate the life of Richard Wagner, once again in the Yarra Room at the prestigious Melbourne Town Hall.
An in-person and online event featuring Maestro Anthony Negus and Carmen Jakobi. Maestro Negus is conducting the upcoming Ring Cycle in Bendigo for Melbourne Opera; Carmen is providing invaluable coaching in German for the singers.
Robert Macfarlane was the 2020 winner of the RWS Young Artist Award. Due to COVID lockdowns, he was finally able to claim his prize to attend the Bayreuth Festival this year. In the meantime, Robert had furthered his skills as an opera director and is preparing for his role debut as Mime in the Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle whilst juggling a job in a hospital.
Join us as Robert entertains us with tales from Bayreuth, from the rehearsal room, and with some tunes thrown in for good measure.
Professor Raymond Holden A.M. returns from the UK to give an audio/visual presentation on Wagnerian Conductors.
Join us for a discussion with bass Steven Gallop about his career, his roles and his latest involvement with Melbourne Opera's Die Walküre.
The Society is once again providing support to Melbourne Opera for their production, and this time for the role of Hunding being portrayed by Steven.
The evening will be an interview with Steven, followed by an opportunity for members to ask questions.
Date: Friday 18th of February
Time: 6pm - 7pm (doors open at 5:45pm)
Venue: Brunswick Uniting Church, 212 Sydney Road, Brunswick (cnr Merri Street)
Cost: Members $15 in person; Zoom attendance $10
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Articles
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Richard Wagner and Robert Schumann (born 1810) knew each other from the early 1830s and, in Mein Leben Wagner says that they met from time to time for walks and to exchange ideas about music. Both were Saxons by birth and protestants by upbringing. Schumann was, said Wagner a “profound and productive musician whose work I much admired … but beyond that I didn’t get any real stimulation from his company … and he was too unreceptive to benefit from any serious views of mine.”
Wagner, Opera, Stage Directors and the Future
A lecture for the Richard Wagner Society (Victoria)
Greg Eldridge (stage director)
recipient of 2018 Young Artist Award – Bayreuth Scholarship
Recently, whilst driving through the town of Winchelsea, I noticed a large roadside sign, “Marjorie Lawrence Drive, 1907-1979,” and, in the middle of the town, The Globe Theatre, bore the sign “The home of Marjorie Lawrence.” Did these signs refer to the Marjorie Lawrence who was a Wagnerian dramatic soprano who reached fame in the 1930s?
The Richard Wagner Society Inc’s annual birthday lunch to celebrate the life of Richard Wagner, in the lovely Yarra Room at the prestigious Melbourne Town Hall. Come join us for an afternoon with fine food, wine and music!