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AGM followed by DVD – GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG ACT II of the Bayreuth Centenary Ring

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Date/Time
Saturday 20 Nov 2021
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Location
Queensland Multicultural Centre


Patrice Chéreau was chosen to direct the Ring at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1976, exactly one hundred years after the first staging by Richard Wagner himself. Chéreau combined visual aspects from the 19th century and from our own time with an older ‘Germanic’ period, underlining the timeless power of symbols. At our meeting on 20 November, following the (hopefully short) AGM, we shall show Act II of Götterdämmerung, which lasts for one hour. This is a fantastic Act featuring the most potent (Shakespearean?) drama in the entire Ring as Brünnhilde is brought against her will to the Hall of the Gibichungs to marry Gunther. Through Hagen’s malevolence, Siegfried has been stripped of all memories of her, and the result is catastrophic. Brünnhilde, Hagen and Gunther conspire to bring about Siegfried’s death in one of the most powerful trios in all opera. We shall experience the only chorus in the Ring – but what a chorus it is! Pierre Boulez conducts the superlative Festspielhaus orchestra, and the singers are outstanding in this recording from 1980, including Gwyneth Jones as Brünnhilde, Fritz Hübner as Hagen, Manfred Jung as Siegfried, Hermann Becht as Alberich, Jeannine Altmeyer as Gutrune, and Franz Mazura (who sang Klingsor in Brisbane in 1995) as Gunther. The Chorus Master was Norbert Balatsch.

You are invited to register for the Meeting by informing our Secretary Rosemary Cater-Smith at catersfield@hotmail.com or via the ‘Contact’ page of the website www.wagnerqld.com.au, and making a bank transfer to Bank of Queensland, BSB: 124021 Account Number: 22612919. Payments are $15 for members and $20 for guests. Please use your name and the date (eg Jones November) to identify your payment.