President's reports 2021

March / Annual Report / June / September / December March 2021 Dear members and friends, Whilst we are well into the first quarter of the year, nonetheless, I extend a hearty WELCOME to you for a music filled 2021. The Society has begun the year with two early zoom events featuring two wonderful Brünnhildes, Susan Bullock and Lise Lindstrom, interviewed by our own Robert Mitchell. And as I write this we are about to have our first live event since February 2020 – a recital to properly kick off our 40th anniversary celebrations which were unfortunately curtailed last year. Hopefully we will be able to bring more live events in the second half of the year. April sees our return to the Goethe Institut after quite a while for a lecture by Professor Thea Brejzek on the visionary scenographer Adolphe Appia – the first in what I hope will be a series on important designers and directors with a strong connection to Wagner. Please see details of what is coming up in the next pages and in our regular enews. Late last year your Committee made a conscious decision to support two causes which go to the heart of what the Society is all about – helping young artists and supporting the production of Wagner’s music dramas in Australia. We felt that at a time when the survival of The Arts and artists is at risk, that a generous gesture was both a necessity and a moral/political requirement. I have to admit that the response from the membership was less than impressive despite some very generous individual contributions (and I can’t thank those members enough – you are rightly recognised in the following pages). The collective effort to overcome the pandemic and the restrictions it imposed on cultural life needs an outlet, in our case the generosity to help those artists whose livelihood has been dramatically disrupted. Our commitment and resolve continues, so I ask once again that we all consider even a small individual donation as collectively we can make a difference. One of the two causes that we contributed to was Melbourne Opera’s production of Das Rheingold. A bold move by a company that consistently places Wagner on the Melbourne stage. They have achieved wonders and manage to maintain a very high artistic standard on budgets that other opera companies would find challenging. Those that bravely managed to get to Melbourne to see this live will attest as to the high quality of this production at all levels. Melbourne Opera’s tenacity in getting this Rheingold on the stage after one of the harshest lockdowns in the world and with the risk of further restrictions at any time plus the confidence to begin a new Ring production with Rheingold (instead of the “easier” Walküre which most companies tackle first) demands our admiration and continued support. Due to the fraught nature of the undertaking the Committee suggested to Melbourne Opera that they use the money donated in any way they saw fit. They came back with the suggestion that the money go towards buying the Wagner Tubas required for the Ring (the story of their procurement is as epic as the Ring itself). We contributed towards the purchase of two of the four instruments this year and we hope to complete our contribution towards the purchase of the other two in 2022. This is the challenge for the Society, to raise enough donations for that to occur and then onto the full cycle in 2023. Of course attendance at these performances is showing the ultimate support (as was watching the streamed version). With the reopening of theatres and concert halls cultural life seems to be making a resurgence. How great it is to sit in a space to see things live again. Of course the hardship and risk of it all disappearing is still there. Government support has been and continues to be poor and our modest contributions both in donations and subscriptions, whilst welcomed, hardly cement the viability of mounting performances. Despite administrative issues Opera Australia have launched their Summer Season with Daniel Sumegi (the Brisbane Wotan in waiting) giving us a taste of his voice as Duke Bluebeard in Bartok’s one acter. A surprise, albeit a happy surprise, with respect to the Brisbane Ring was the announcement that Lise Lindstrom will return to Australia to reprise the role of Brünnhilde for the first two cycles with Australian Anna-Louise Cole singing the role in the third cycle. With Europe still dealing with continued waves of the pandemic it is possible that Brisbane may well be the only full Ring available to Wagnerians in 2021. Lets hope not but it is unlikely that any Australians will be travelling overseas for Wagner for quite some time. And the restrictions mean that Bayreuth will not be a possibility for us this year despite the Festival going ahead with a reduced programme and number of seats. As we continue to plan events into the second half of 2021 I ask you, our members, to please provide feedback and also make suggestions as to what you may want to see and hear into the future. Please enjoy the first Quarterly for 2021 ably put together by Mike Day (thanks Mike, and also thank you to all the contributers/reviewers/writers). Happy listening and see you at the next event. Esteban Insausti President, Wagner Society in NSW Inc. Annual Report 2021-2022, presented at the AGM held at 1.00pm on Sunday 29 May 2022 Welcome to the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Wagner Society in NSW Inc. This year back in physical form. In fact it has been good to attend so many live performances in a theatre and also be able to travel to some of them. Those of you who managed to get to Melbourne for the Lohengrin with Jonas Kaufmann (leaving aside the question of the production) would agree. I will now comment and summarise each of the core aspects of our Society for the year 2021-22. Membership Our membership currently sits at 215 financial members. 31 members remain unfinancial. We continue to seek more members and hope that the wave of Wagner productions in Australia will stimulate interest in joining us. Die Walküre in February and Lohengrin just now will be supplemented with a concertante Siegfried in September and then the two Rings in Bendigo and Brisbane to come in 2023. This plus the return of a full Bayreuth Festival, the Leipzig 2022 project and a new Ring at the Staatsoper Berlin in October, should generate some new members. Survey Late in 2021 and early 2022 we held a membership survey to ascertain a few things about us. We are hoping to issue a series of surveys to drill down on aspects of the Society and in particular what you want the Society to be. We had 45 respondents, which is a considerable percentage of the membership. We will publish the result in detail in future Quarterlies but allow me to share some highlights of the information we garnered from this first survey. 75% of those who competed the survey had been members for more than 6 years, 25% for more than 21 years. 70% are over 70 years of age. 38% joined to learn more about Wagner, 31% to meet and mix with like minded people and 20% joined to support the development of young artists. Financials We are still holding a reasonable balance and I’ll let Margaret Whealy, our Treasurer, say more about that. Whilst we are still recovering from the lockdowns and pandemic regime, the muscle memory of live events and generosity of both time and money is coming back. The question to us all remains what exactly do we want to do as the Wagner Society in NSW Inc, beyond events and talks fostering the understanding and appreciation of the music of Wagner? Support and Donations  I report that the Society continues to support young artists. Since the last AGM we have sponsored Jessica Harper, Michele Ryan, Chris Curcuruto and Livia Brash. We concluded the second part of the Wagner Tuba Support for Melbourne Opera, another $15,000. And we committed to a $5,000 annual Scholarship with Pacific Opera named for our late President the Honourable Jane Mathews OA. I’d like to thank Ian Hutchinson, the Chairman of Pacific Opera and member of our Society, for suggesting this and for kick starting the donations towards it. We look forward to hearing Ellen McNeil, the inaugural recipient, in a future event. We are still working on our philanthropy strategy. But I can report that the research done by Marie Leech, Lis Bergman, Margaret Whealy and Leona Geeves has unearthed a very long list of artists and causes we have sponsored over the last 40 years. I’m not sure about the exact amount of money that has been raised and passed on in that time but it is not an inconsiderable amount. We want to continue doing this. And we will need your help and generosity. We have “projects” that you can donate to right now: the Jane Mathews Scholarship and our ongoing sponsoring of artists for instance. There are more things we can do and should do. Please help us. Events and Communications  Since the last AGM we have organised 14 events. We’ve had 6 Zoom events, mainly overseas or interstate speakers such as Rachel Orzech, Christopher Cook and Erica Miner. We’ve had 3 Talks, including Ralph Myers, Peter Bassett and Robert Gay. We showed “Siegfried”, Part 1 of the “Die Nibelungen” a silent film by the legendary Fritz Lang. Today’s recital is the 4th musical event in that period, 3 of which have been in 2022, including a Masterclass led by Christina Henson Hayes. Today’s recital is the 10th event for 2022. This year the number, variety and frequency of events is not a coincidence but a strategy to get you, our members to engage again, and also to give us some feedback on what is working and what is not. So please let us know – and don’t wait for a survey to provide that feedback. Bayreuth and Wagner performances The 2022 Bayreuth Festival is on and some of our members will be attending. Travel is still a risky proposition for some and the take up of interest in tickets to Bayreuth 2022 was surprisingly low. Consequently there is an abundance of tickets, all our requests were met, something that may not occur again. Bayreuth, together with the Leipzig 2022 Project (where they are performing all 13 Wagner operas), and a new Ring at the Staatsoper in Berlin under Daniel Barenboim, means that overseas travel is back on the agenda. Not to mention the unprecedented situation of 2 Ring productions in Australia in a calendar year with Bendigo (MO) and Brisbane (OA) in 2023. So live Wagner is back. I would also like to report that some of us were delighted to meet up with our counterparts in Victoria and South Australia during the Die Walküre performances in February at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Mebourne. And also see and hear first hand the Wagner Tubas that we helped purchase for Melbourne Opera. And just in the last week we had opportunities to catch up once again during the 4 performances of Lohengrin at The State Theatre in Melbourne. It is important for the Australian and New Zealand Societies to continue our friendship, especially as travel continues to open up. The Committee  First of all I would like to thank all of the Committee for your hard work and perseverance over the course of the last year. And I would like to welcome June Donsworth and Julie Clarke to the Committee. In particular I want to single out Mike Day for the wonderful Quarterlies, Ross Whitelaw for setting up and analysing the Survey, Robert Mitchell for organising the Tuba pins (some of which I still need to issue to some of you wonderful donors) and Leona Geeves who continues to supply us with wonderful talent to entertain us. But I would like to make a special callout to Lis Bergmann for the Communications and membership interface, the glue that keeps the Society together. I make this plea for help from the membership to keep this wonderful work going whilst Lis takes a well deserved break. So if you are interested or know someone who might be able to help with IT, please contact me. On the issue of talent I want to underscore our commitment to deepen our friendship with institutions such as Pacific Opera and Melbourne Opera, amongst others. It is critical to foster young artists as much as continue to provide forums for the discussion and understanding of Wagner and opera in general, as an artform. With that I conclude my report and commend it to the membership. Esteban Insausti President, Wagner Society in NSW Inc 29 May 2022 June 2021 Dear members and friends, After the cultural famine of 2020 we are now well on the way to replenishing our spirits as most of the arts companies are back performing live and venues are largely allowed 100% capacity once again. Since my last report the Society has followed our two early Zoom talks with two live recitals (one as part of a double birthday celebration) and a live lecture. We’ve returned to some of our favourite venues, the Goethe Institut, St Columba and Mosman Art Gallery. I think we can say that our event programme is back. Reports on these can be found within the Quarterly. Attendance has been excellent at all events and the quality of the performances presented (Laura Scandizzo, Bradley Gilchrist, Cedar-Rose Newman and Tamara-Anna Cislowska) were nothing short of outstanding. Amongst all these live events we also had a fantastic Zoom lecture from Professor Heath Lees from his home in New Zealand. On our return to the Goethe Institut in April, Professor Thea Brejzek gave a most interesting lecture on the emergence of scenography via Adolphe Appia. As part of our 40th anniversary and the great partnership with that venue, Goethe-Institut Director Sonia Griegoschewski provided champagne after Thea’s talk which was much enjoyed by all. Sonia sadly is finishing her term as Director Australia later this year which also means that her husband, Committee member Florian Hammerbacher, will be leaving us. This is a blow as Florian has been an integral part of our Committee. We hope that he accepts a role as a roving WSNSW reporter at large. Please join me in wishing both Sonja and Florian all the very best for the future. Whilst our local cultural life is returning to a pre-pandemic normal, the same cannot be said for our international adventures. It is unlikely that any Australians will be travelling to Bayreuth in 2021. The reduced number of tickets available to a reduced programme makes it almost impossible to be there. Similarly, the International Richard Wagner Congress to be held in Munich between 14 and 17 October. I attended an early morning zoom briefing from Munich and Berlin on this. The programme sounds very interesting but again it is unlikely any Australians will be able to attend. The Verband very kindly is leaving the door open for us in case there is an opportunity to travel. More positively I can report that I hosted a zoom meeting of Australian and New Zealand Wagner Society Presidents, a first, in which we discussed how we can enhance the informal exchange of information, material and tickets (especially when we are able to travel internationally). The meeting was very positive and cordial on a range of issues. One of the initial results of this exchange will be a coordinated effort to organise a function or functions for Wagner Society members during the various Brisbane Ring cycles. One of the tenets of being a Wagner Society member is the social aspect of attending a Ring, meeting fellow Wagnerians, forging ties and friendships. In that spirit we celebrated our 40th birthday together with The Master’s 208th at St Columba on the 23rd of May. As a birthday present we had a marvellous recital of mainly Lizst-Wagner by Tamara-Anna Cislowska – a wonderful performance. After which we enjoyed reminiscences by Richard King (a founder member and second President) and Roger Cruickshank (No.7 who also led the RW birthday toast with some rousing singing), both travelling through the bubbles from Tasmania and New Zealand. Many foundation members and Honorary Life Members, as well as Immediate Past President Colleen Chesterman, were in attendance. The event progressed towards a conclusion with all the former and present Presidents jointly cutting the superb birthday cake (thanks Barbara de Rome!). During the birthday celebration we launched the Wagner Tuba sponsorship drive where we seek to raise $15,000 to help Melbourne Opera purchase two instruments (we’ve already donated a similar amount to help purchase the first two tubas – heard to great account during “Das Rheingold” in February). This company’s Ring venture will culminate in full cycles in 2024 under Maestro Anthony Negus. We will all be there. So enjoy this bumper issue of the Quarterly, come or zoom into our events, donate towards our causes so that we can continue to present quality events, support Wagnerian ventures and artists whilst enjoying the work of Richard Wagner. Happy listening and reading. Esteban Insausti President, Wagner Society in NSW Inc September 2021 Dear members and friends, At the AGM I mused that I would go down in WSNSW history as the Zoom President. Little did I know that this current lockdown would be as long and deep. I hope that everyone is staying safe. Unfortunately I need to report that OA has postponed the Brisbane Ring once again. This is probably no news by the time you read this here and certainly not surprising given the circumstances. But it is no sadder or alarming particularly for all the creatives and backstage crew involved. Let us hope that the comeback is swift and that it holds. In other sad news, the popular former Chief Conductor of the SSO, Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti, passed away on August 11 – a loss to the world of music, our condolences to his family. On a more salubrious note, I would like to extend on behalf of the WSNSW our hearty congratulations to the Wagner Society in Victoria on their 40th anniversary. Long and happy life. This letter will be short as my President’s Report to the AGM details our achievements over the last year and there is little more to add since. We’ve managed to convert some of our live events into zoom ones but unfortunately others, like Peter Bassett’s talk and Ariadne’s Thread, will need to be rescheduled for 2022. Similarly, the trip to Brangayne Winery will be postponed to the first half of next year. We will keep you posted on events through the Quarterly and the E-news. I hope everyone has had a chance to see the Bayreuth Festival performances available through DG Premium, especially the new Dutchman. Views welcomed by our editor. One issue coming up will be a survey to take stock of where the Society is and where it would like to go. So, when you receive the online survey, please take the time to do it and more importantly provide your feedback. We want to understand how best to tailor our services, events and the content of the Quarterly for instance, to what you want to see, hear and read. Keep a look out for it. In the meantime, enjoy this scaly and scary Fafner issue. Keep listening and watching. Stay safe. Esteban Insausti President, Wagner Society in NSW Inc December 2021 Dear members and friends, Somehow, we have made it through 2021. Another challenging and disruptive year. By this stage, we have enjoyed our last event at Mosman Art Gallery, and you will be reading this, the last Quarterly for 2021. And like me, hopefully plotting and planning a full live cultural engagement with our favourite companies and venues around Sydney and beyond. The Society’s event calendar for 2022 (see inside) will also be bigger and varied with the introduction of Zoom Wednesdays – a venture we hope will continue to connect us to our international friends via a medium we’ve become accustomed to in the last two years. We are still planning the second half of events for 2022. In my last letter to you for 2021 I want to focus on the work that goes on “behind the scenes” to present you, dear members, with the information and communications on several platforms as well as events throughout a calendar year. Much discussion and planning are undertaken to create a varied but curated programme for you. Ideas, contacts and leads are debated and pursued by the Committee. Finding appropriate venues with the right facilities (including working pianos), availability and universal access is not easy. This work is undertaken by some of our Committee members and it is time consuming. If any of you know or want to suggest a venue please contact us. Finding the artists to perform for us is arduous and sometimes complicated with competing dates or the availability of accompanists. Events usually run smoothly but as we’ve seen recently technology can almost unmake all the hard work. But we are yet to have an unsuccessful event. So, when we are having a chat over a drink and some food after an event, please think of the work that has gone into making all that happen. In the last few years, we have expanded our communications – specially through, and as a result of, the extended lockdowns. It takes a lot of work to source and collate the plethora of information that fills the e-news for instance. E-news is something we believe is vital to connect with the membership, and beyond, because it is quick and current. This is something we don’t want to scale back. Taking on and replying to registration queries for events, membership subscriptions, just replying to questions, is work that is undertaken voluntarily with no reward other than the success of the Society and its’ aims. When we have a sizable, satisfied audience to an event, or hear of the success of one of our supported artists, or share the wonderful experiences in Bayreuth from members who obtain tickets through us, that means our time and effort has been worthwhile. This leads me to the subject of our Committee and the need of your assistance. As you know we have recently lost one of our Committee and we were already one if not two members down. We will be seeking nominations to join the Committee from those interested closer to our next AGM (in May) but in the immediate present we need help. We need assistance with some of our social media platforms (Facebook, e-news, e-news promoting our events, registration of members to events and zoom registrations). If you can help us with any or all of those, or know of someone that can, please contact me or Lis Bergmann. Two final points before I sign off: on donations and our survey. Please take a few minutes to complete the Survey. It will help us better understand what you the members are wanting to see and hear in our events as well as a range of other matters that will help us focus our efforts. The early responses have been most interesting. On donations, I can only reiterate that you please consider giving generously to the Society to continue our support of young artists but also to support the various projects we are associated with – you can read about two of them in the next pages. A vital Society is one that is engaged, one that is passionate about what it contributes. Renewing your subscription and coming to events is wonderful. Just consider doing more. In conclusion enjoy this all Walküre issue, keep listening and watching. On behalf of the Committee, I wish you all a great Christmas and New Year. Stay safe. See you in 2022. Esteban Insausti President, Wagner Society in NSW Inc