Lohengrin, sculpture by Caspar David Zumbusch depicting the character from the opera of the same name, by Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Bayreuth, Richard-Wagner-Museum. Closing scene from the Bayreuth production of Lohengrin, 1990. And a photo of our 2023 cinema screening.
Saturday 20 September. CINEMA EVENT AND RECEPTION to be held in the Elizabeth Picture Theatre, 175 Elizabeth St. Brisbane City, commencing at 3pm. LOHENGRIN ACT III will be shown in the Cinema’s Tara Room, in a private screening, preceded by a very brief introduction by Peter Bassett. Afterwards, a ‘Prosecco and Cake’ reception in the adjoining lounge. $15 for members and $20 for guests. Please transfer payment to Bank of Queensland BSB 124 021, Account No. 2261 2919. Ref (surname) September. And please email the secretary Alpha Yap at alphayap60@gmail.com to advise of your attendance and provide the names of guests. To enable us to inform the Cinema of total numbers and to assist with catering arrangements, PLEASE BOOK NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER.
The screening will be of Act III of Lohengrin from Bayreuth, staring Paul Frey, Cheryl Studer, Ekkehard Wlaschiha, Gabriele Schnaut, Manfred Schenk, conducted by Peter Schneider and Directed by Werner Herzog. Recorded at the Festspielhaus Bayreuth in June-July 1990.
Act III includes a stunning orchestral prelude, the wedding of Lohengrin and Elsa with its famous ‘bridal chorus’, Elsa’s insistence that Lohengrin must answer the ‘forbidden question’ and reveal his identity, the summoning of the people of Brabant to the banks of the River Scheldt, the return of the boat drawn by the swan (into which Elsa’s brother Gottfried had been transformed), Lohengrin’s famous In fernem Land in which he reveals his true identity and declares that he must return to Monsalvat and the Holy Grail, Ortrud’s evil joy in the belief that Gottfried will never be freed from the curse of transformation, the intervention of the dove of the Grail and Gottfried’s restoration to human form, and Lohengrin’s departure in the boat now drawn by the dove. No wonder that Lohengrin was the opera that drew the nineteen-year-old King Ludwig to Richard Wagner and convinced him to devote the rest of his life to supporting Wagner and his works.
Saturday 18 October. Peter Bassett. ‘Wagner’s Siegfried and the Power of Nature’. At Radio 4MBS Classic FM, 384 Old Cleveland Road, Coorparoo, Brisbane. 3:00pm to 5:00pm. The opera Siegfried marks the transition from an old mythological view of humanity in stories dominated by gods, to a focus on the power of nature – the world as we see and know it. Indeed, the crucial scene between Wotan (as the Wanderer) and Erda, whose name is the Old High German word for ‘Earth’, is at the crux of this transition when Wotan bequeaths the future to a child of nature – Siegfried. It is difficult to think of any composer or dramatist who has been more actively concerned with nature and the animal world than Wagner. He was strongly opposed to hunting as a sport and espoused the cause of vegetarianism. But from an early age, the concept of compassion shaped Wagner’s thoughts and, for him, it was directly related to the relationship between the human and animal worlds. In a letter to Mathilde Wesendonck he emphasised that fellow suffering was central to his art as much as to his philosophy of life. $15 for members and $20 for guests. Please transfer payment to Bank of Queensland BSB 124 021, Account No. 2261 2919. Ref (surname) September. And please email the secretary Alpha Yap at alphayap60@gmail.com to advise of your attendance and provide the names of guests.
Saturday 8 November. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING plus Professor Alpha Yap on ‘Wagner’s calling cards: Leitmotifs – what, why, how? At Radio 4MBS Classic FM, 384 Old Cleveland Road, Coorparoo, Brisbane. 2:30pm to 5:00pm. Further details in October. Please note the new AGM starting time of 2:30pm.
Saturday 29 November. CHRISTMAS LUNCH. La Belle Vie French Restaurant, 60 MacGregor Terrace, Bardon 4065. Further details in October.