
Welcome to The Wagner Society of America
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 Hotel Allegro 7:00 p.m. - Refreshments Rachel Nussbaum Wichert, one of our members,returned to present a section of her paper, "Zeitoper and Emotion in the Weimar Era", i.e., operas that dealt with contemporary concerns. She will focus on Hindemith's 1929 opera Neues vom Tage, described in Wikipedia as 'notorious for a scene with a naked soprano singing in a bath about the wonders of modern plumbing'. Composers of operas of this type were reacting to displays of emotion in opera as a relics of a bygone culture and to Richard Wagner in particular. Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
Hotel Allegro 7:00 p.m. - Reception Bob Yaffe, a Member-at-Large on our Board of Directors, presented "The Wagner Ban in Israel—Historical Necessity or Wagnerphobia?" Previously, he delivered a lecture to us entitled "In Defense of Siegfried". He has lectured extensively and taught courses on opera topics at Oakton Community College, various Lyric Opera chapters, Jewish Community Centers of Chicago, and a number of senior and adult education programs. This lecture came shortly after his return from a family wedding in Israel. Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 Hotel Allegro Professor Haymes gave an audio-visual presentation entitled Wager's Ring and J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S Lord of the Rings. He teaches in the Department of Modern Languages at Cleveland State University. His research interests include medieval German literature, Old Norse language and literature and, of course, Wagner. Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hotel Allegro Wednesday, March 25th, 2009, Hotel Allegro 7:00 p.m. - Reception Our society member JOHN BARKER, Professor Emeritus of History - University of Wisconsin- Madison is the author of the new book, Wagner and Venice (University of Rochester Press, November 2008). John's talk is entitled VENICE 1883: WAGNER'S RING COMES TO ITALY. He will focus on Angelo Neumann's touring company and its presentations at La Fenice. We shall have copies of his book available for purchase (at a discount) and inscription. |
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Sunday, December 7, 2008 We are pleased to have Nancy as our guest for this event. She has sung a number of Wagnerian roles including Freia in San Francisco, Eva in Chicago, Elsa in Dallas, Irene (Rienzi) in Paris, and most recently Sieglinde this past August at Millennium Park. A native of Evanston, she will be in town for her annual benefit concert for the Over The Rainbow Association. We shall have a door prize of two tickets to that concert to be held on Saturday, December 13th in Evanston. After dinner Nancy will speak briefly about her career and then field questions from the audience. Hotel Allegro
Monday, November 5, 2007
Siegfried Wagner and His Operas Dr. Peter Pachl will speak on Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930), Wagner's only son, composer, conductor, and director of the Bayreuth Festspiele from 1908 until his death in 1930. The program will include audio and video. Tower Club - Ambassador Room Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Cosima Wagner — A Remembrance Dr. Sven Friedrich will speak on Cosima Wagner and afterwards will answer questions from the audience about The Bayreuth Festspiele – Past, Present and Future. Union League Club Wednesday,
May 30th, 2007 Claiming the Ring Dr. Katherine Syer will survey several recent international productions of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, exploring how designers and directors profile regional characteristics in production. By loosening the interpretational lens away from Germanic or Nordic influences, many opera houses around the world are claiming the Ring as their own.
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Wednesday,
April 25th, 2007
PENELOPE TURING

PENELOPE TURING, a spirited octogenarian, is returning for her third visit to us. She was here last in 2000. She will be talking about the 50 Bayreuth festivals that she has personally attended. She has missed only 5 since she started attending in 1952.
Viktoria Vizin and the in a musical program
of arias and choruses by
Wagner, Verdi, Brahms,
Liszt, Elgar, Selmeczi, and Orbán.
Friday, March 16th,
2007 Reception at 5:30
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Friday, March 16th,
2007
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Site Still Under Construction - The Great Work Continues....slowly...
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