Program for 2026
15th August. A lecture/recital on ‘Liszt and Wagner, the art of transcription’ presented by Alpha Yap together with virtuoso pianist John Granger Fisher.
Wagner wrote gigantic operas for big voices and (even bigger) orchestras. But in the days before recordings and streaming, how was the music to be heard, especially beyond the major operatic centres? The answer lies in transcriptions, especially for piano – a mainstay of the middle-class Western home in the nineteenth century and uniquely capable of encompassing diverse musics. Indeed, piano transcriptions (of opera, orchestral and chamber music) were a veritable industry of that time, one that rapidly turned its attention to Wagner’s music. The peak, however, were Liszt’s transcriptions. These uniquely reproduced the musical richness of their originals for the 10 fingers of the pianist (and go rather beyond the capabilities of the average amateur pianist). They also encapsulate the complex relationship between these two giants of Romantic music. In this joint talk, Alpha Yap will consider some of the entwined history of Liszt and Wagner’s careers and (more importantly) John Granger Fisher will discuss and play some of Liszt’s Wagner transcriptions.
4MBS FM Studio, 384 Old Cleveland Road, Coorparoo. 3- 5pm. Attendance Fees are $20 for members, $25 for guests. Please transfer payment to Bank of Queensland, BSB 124021, Account No. 22612919. Quote your surname and month. Please advise the Secretary at alphayap60@gmail.com of the transfer and any names of guests. There will be afternoon tea after the meeting, and contributions will be welcome.
19th September. An illustrated talk by Stephen Emmerson on ‘Hagen’s Watch’ – the Dark Side in Götterdämmerung.
17th October. Cinema screening of an Act of a Wagner opera (details to be confirmed).
14th November. Our AGM. Further details TBA.