Events

'Ring' Workshop 1: Das Rheingold / Die Walküre

Saturday 18 Jul 2020 at 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Preparatory material will be circulated in advance by email. The President will lead the discussion and encourage a high degree of audience participation. There will be no formal lectures but rather a sharing of observations and experiences by as many attendees as possible. Short musical excerpts will be played to illustrate aspects of the discussion. Emphasis will be on the works themselves, including their dramatic structure and characters, poetic text, music, and thematic development. The focus will be on the creation and inner workings of the dramas rather than on staged interpretations.

‘Ring' Workshop 2: Siegfried / Gӧtterdämmerung

Saturday 22 Aug 2020 at 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Preparatory material will be circulated in advance by email. The President will lead the discussion and encourage a high degree of audience participation. There will be no formal lectures but rather a sharing of observations and experiences by as many attendees as possible. Short musical excerpts will be played to illustrate aspects of the discussion. Emphasis will be on the works themselves, including their dramatic structure and characters, poetic text, music, and thematic development. The focus will be on the creation and inner workings of the dramas rather than on staged interpretations.

Wagner and Offenbach by Dr Peter Bassett

Saturday 19 Sep 2020 at 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Offenbach and Wagner

Richard Wagner and Jacques Offenbach (born Jakob Levy Offenbach in Cologne) pursued fame and fortune in Paris in the footsteps of their countryman Giacomo Meyerbeer (Jakob Liebmann Beer), but whereas Wagner soon abandoned any French persona, Offenbach cultivated his until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. While lampooning Wagner’s achievements and engaging him in an on-going public spat, Offenbach revealed something of his true feelings by writing a serious opera with the Wagnerian-sounding title of Die Rheinnixen (staged Vienna 1864) and quoting it in his most celebrated work (unfinished at his death) drawing on tales by E T A Hoffmann.

Franz Liszt: Devoted Wagnerite, composer and virtuoso, by Dr Graham Bruce

Saturday 17 Oct 2020 at 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Liszt and Wagner 

It was not until Franz liszt had abandoned his career as famous virtuoso pianist that he became acquainted with the music of Richard Wagner. Tired of the continuous travelling and the endless concert giving “like a performing dog” as he described it, Liszt gave up public performances to concentrate on composition, conducting, and teaching. After seeing a performance of Rienzi, he was so impressed that he determined to give performances, in his new position at Weimar, of Wagner’s Tannhauser and Lohengrin. Indeed, following the banishment of Wagner from Germany following his part in the Dresden revolution, Liszt was one of the few people to champion his works during the years of Wagner’s exile in Switzerland.

Thus began a relationship which lasted until Wagner’s death, a relationship which survived personal disagreements between the two. In particular, Wagner’s affair with Liszt’s daughter Cosima, who finally left her husband Hans Von Bulow to live with and finally marry Wagner, was a stumbling point. Liszt’s admiration for Wagner’s music however, eventually triumphed over such matters. The talk will examine Liszt’s years as celebrated virtuoso, his years as teacher and composer and in particular his musical bond with Wagner. A range of famous pianists from Arrau to Brendel and Volodos will provide examples of his compositions.

Graham Bruce

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (OPERA QUEENSLAND)

Wednesday 28 Oct 2020 at 6:00 pm

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (OPERA QUEENSLAND)

QPAC Concert Hall. Semi-staged production

Wednesday 28 October 2020, 6.00pm
Saturday 31 October 2020, 6.00pm

For more details, please see: https://oq.com.au/whats-on/tristan-und-isolde