Tannhäuser Seminar "I still owe the world a Tannhäuser" - Richard Wagner A half-day exploration of Wagner's opera, our annual seminar offers a deep-dive into the work and coincides with the Met Opera production this winter. Program: 12:00 noon: Introduction by David Shengold, music critic and lecturer 12:05 - 12:55 pm: John J. H. Muller […]
Documentary screening Global Wagner – From Bayreuth to the World is not a biography of Richard Wagner, nor is it a musicological analysis of his work. This is a documentary dedicated solely to the world’s fascination with the man, and an exploration of the question as to how such massive hype and world-wide cult following […]
Description: Our guest speaker, Maestro David Chan, in his 24th season as concertmaster of New York's Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, which performs almost daily under a constantly changing series of conductors. Mr. Chan discussed those challenges, as well as his experiences as an orchestral conductor in the United States and in Europe. Mr. Chan is a […]
Description: Our well-traveled Society members reported on productions of Wagner operas in the U.S. and abroad, including Opera Atlanta’s Das Rheingold, the Bayreuth Festival’s Parsifal, and Ring Cycles in Budapest and Vienna. We also had a presentation by bass-baritone Joseph Parrish, our 2023 Bayreuth stipendiat, and a talk with two young WSNY members about their […]
Artist Talk: Klaus Florian Vogt Date/Time: August 21, 2023 10:00 am Description: Exploring the works in-depth with the artists performing in the Festival, here speaking with Klaus Florian Vogt (Tannhäuser in Tannhäuser, Siegmund in Die Walküre). These performers discussed their careers, the challenges and rewards of working at Bayreuth, and answered audience questions in an informal atmosphere. […]
The purpose of the Annual Meeting is to elect the 2023-24 Board of Directors and to hear reports of the 2022-23 Officers and Committees, and to conduct any other business that may be properly raised.
Maestro Thomas Guggeis shared his insights into the challenges of conducting the Ring in Berlin and Der fliegende Holländer at the Metropolitan Opera, with particular emphasis on the influence of bel canto tradition in Wagner’s vocal writing. Thomas Guggeis created an international stir in March 2018 when he was tapped to take over a highly […]
Our Annual Recital featured mezzo-soprano Shanley Horvitz accompanied by pianist Craig Ketter in a selection of pieces by Wagner (including the Wesendonck Lieder), Ravel, Dvořák, and Janáček. Ms. Horvitz was the WSNY's 2022 Lauch awardee and has been reviewed "to spin lovely, warm legato phrases, replete with ease of emission, dynamic variety, elegance, yet holding […]
Description: Prof. Michael P. Steinberg of Brown University and co-curator of the recent exhibit in Berlin’s German Historical Museum explained the influence of Wagner on German nationalism in the mid-19th century and its lasting impact on German self-identity. As Prof. Steinberg explained to The New York Times, “You can’t have a naïve and beautiful production […]
Description: Our 42nd annual seminar, a half-day deep-dive into the world of Wagner’s Swan Knight. Moderated by composer and conductor Victoria Bond, with a presentation by Dr. Katherine Syer “Wagner’s Lohengrin: Blending Art and Life, On Stage and Off”; an interview with new production director François Girard; a roundtable with the Met cast featuring Günther […]
Description: Scholarship met fun in this delightful evening. Prof. Goldmark opened our eyes to the pervasive presence of Richard Wagner in the popular American culture of the mid 20th Century. Profusely illustrated by clips of hilarious cartoons such as the classic What’s Opera, Doc? which is the source of the immortal lines, “Kill the wabbit” […]
In partnership with the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a vocal showcase featuring excerpts from Wagner's Lohengrin. Lohengrin is the third opera of Wagner’s middle period, and it continues a style of tonality that the composer had developed earlier in Tannhäuser. Lohengrin's musical style also anticipates Wagner’s future leitmotif technique and, as with all of his operas […]