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9th December

I am relieved that we have been allocated tix for the second Ring cycle at Longborough! Now we can book for Mastersingers Inside the Ring events: http://www.mastersingers.org.uk/ITR_flyer.pd.

I have not heard of anyone getting 2013 Bayreuth tix yet: unfortunately AirBerlin has stopped direct flights to Nuremburg so travelling to Bayreuth will be slower and more expensive. Intermezzo had an interesting snippet on repairs to the Festspielhaus: http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2012/12/wagner-gets-the-builders-in.html and a piece about an exhibition in Berlin: http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2012/12/wagner-exhibition.html.

The La Scala season formally opened with Lohengrin with Daniel Barenboim and Jonas Kaufmann (and Annette` Dasch substituting for a flu-stricken Anja Harteros). This was relayed on TV-Arte and is available online outside the UK. Intermezzo has a link to a YouTube video (with tips on saving videos) which will probably soon disappear: http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2012/12/jonas-lohengrin-here-now.html

When the original billing was Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau we booked two sets of tix for Robert le Diable. We now feel like Wagner with a Meyerbeer persecution complex! – we agreed with Stephen Jay-Taylor’s amusing review: http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=829:robert-le-diable-royal-opera-6th-december-2012-&catid=8:opera-reviews&Itemid=16

There will be a lot of Wagner available over the festive season: The 2007 Glyndebourne production of Tristan will be available on www.guardian.co.uk from 26 December to 6th January and the ROH Ring will be on Radio 3 in Acts at 4.30 from 24th Dec to 4th January; provisional dates given by the ROH are :

2012 has been the best year for Mastersingers events ever (but I seem to say that every year!)

KR
D


Just back from an exceptionally good Wexford festival and we missed the Walküre III as we were in sunny Naples but everyone told me it was another excellent event. The next Mastersingers event with the Rehearsal Orchestra will be October 27th at the Henry Wood Hall.

Barry Millington gave a rave review to the Longborough Götterdämmerung in the Wagner Journal:

‘This year’s Brünnhilde, Rachel Nicholls .… is a sensational discovery. Her tone is ample but focused and she responds intuitively to the nuances of the text’

‘Malcolm Rivers made a delightful cameo appearance as Alberich .… bringing all his long experience to bear in a splendidly theatrical performance’

The casting for Bayreuth 2013 is now on the website http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/english/programme_157.html

Intermezzo had an interesting piece on the disastrous free for all Bayreuth internet booking for an isolated performance of Rheingold : http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2012/10/system-error-cocks-up-bayreuth-ticket-sales.html

Booking appears to open on Nov 10 for Rienzi at Rome http://www.operaroma.it/stagione/stagione_2012_2013/rienzi

D


10th October

Owing to unforeseen circumstances Simon O’Neill and Lionel Friend will be replaced by Rachel Nicholls and Richard Black at the Music Club of London/Wagner Society event at QGT on Wednesday 17th October: http://www.musicclublondon.com/UK0046.html Rachel is a wonderful singer who has recently turned to the Wagnerian repertory, and we had the great pleasure of witnessing some masterclasses with her at Presteigne given by Dame Anne Evans. If you cannot make this event Rachel will be singing with James Rutherford with David Syrus and the Rehearsal Orchestra at GSMD on Sunday October 21. http://www.wagnersociety.org/dewalk.html . Unfortunately we will not be able to make either event as we have booked to go to Naples.

We went to the second cycle of the ROH Ring and were delighted by the high standard of singing, and the fact that the production has lost some of its more offensive and irrational aspects. I believe the BBC recorded this cycle but are planning to relay the third cycle live with act-by-act repeats over the Christmas period.

We did not actually want to buy tickets for the August 10th Rheingold at Bayreuth but made a diligent attempt. At 5.04 we were advised that there was a queue of 27 mins and after this time elapsed we were advised that all seats had been sold!

D


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