Welcome to the Wagner Society of New York

 

To view information about the Society (celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2012 and the largest in this continent), upcoming events, membership, excerpts from our bimonthly publication Wagner Notes, our extensive catalogue of Wagner-related books (with member discounts), and links to many other Wagner organizations and institutions, please click on the buttons. Secure online form is available for membership and some events.

Non members, please join now to receive many Society benefits, including the complete Wagner Notes and the opportunity to apply for tickets for the Bayreuth Festival (click here for Bayreuth Ticket Policies - 2012).  Although the policies for 2012 have been changed suddenly by their Administrative Board (see news item below), we still will be able to obtain some tickets. Please note: New memberships received after January 1, 2012 will be current until August 2013. 



NEWS: Bayreuth Ticket Allocations

As you have probably read or heard by now, the Bayreuth ticket allocation process that had been followed by the Bayreuth Festival for many years has been dropped. Resolutions were adopted by the supervisory committees of the Bayreuth Festival on Oct. 18, 2011, as a result of investigations of certain ticket allocation procedures, by the Bavarian General Accounting Office and the German Federal Court of Auditors, per a Dec. 15th letter signed by Eva Wagner-Pasquier and Katharina Wagner. Excerpt: “It is unfortunately no longer possible to accord special interest groups or tour operators any privileges in the allocation of tickets.” Special interest groups applies to Wagner societies around the world! Nota bene: Wagner societies have always been involved with and essential to the Festival. Indeed, the first Festival of 1876 may never have gotten off the ground, had it not been for the founding of the first societies in 1872 and shortly thereafter.

   The Wagner Society of New York acknowledged receipt of this sudden and delayed announcement immediately and informed Society members who had applied for tickets, noting that we would try to locate tickets for those who wanted them. (If you received an individual invoice for Bayreuth tickets but cannot attend, please let us know.) The 14 North American societies, in addition to the International Association of Wagner Societies, have since sent a strong unified letter to protest this action, which will have an impact on all aspects of participation in the Festival. The Wagner Society of New York has received an allotment since 1984 and has presented our much-appreciated Bayreuth English-language lecture series since 1985, from which we have been able to make additional contributions to our membership in the Gesellschaft der Freunde von Bayreuth. We hope for a reconsideration of this draconian action and will continue to report on it.
(The above information was provided in a recent mailing to our entire database. You may also see Wagner-related blogs for other articles on this matter. The Feb. 2012 issue of Wagner Notes, our bimonthly member publication, will provide further details.)


WSNY Upcoming Programs at a Glance

Jan. 23 (Monday). Discussion of Rienzi, with Maestro Eve Queler (conductor) and Elisabete Matos (Irene). See Events page.

Feb. 5 (Sunday). Noon-5:00 p.m. Götterdämmerung Seminar: Flyer with all speakers and Met cast roundtable with reservation form: click here. Secure online form for reservations: click here.

Spring 2012.
Met Ring cycles. Many Society ancillary events will be announced as we get closer to the cycles. Flyer and reservation form for the Sunday, May 6 Rhine Journey on the Hudson (lunch cruise) will be mailed and posted here.

Further details on Events page.

News from the Met
Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will conduct the Met’s new production of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung which premieres January 27, 2012, and continues on January 31, February 3, 7, and 11 matinee. He replaces the Met's Music Director, James Levine, who is continuing his rehabilitation after a fall last September that necessitated emergency back surgery

Gary Lehman
, who was scheduled to sing Siegfried at the Metropolitan Opera on October 27, November 1 and 5, has withdrawn due to illness. Jay Hunter Morris performed the role on those dates.
Mr. Lehman has also withdrawn from the Götterdämmerung Siegfrieds in January-February 2012 and will be replaced by Mr. Morris in some performances; Stephen Gould is singing other performances.

The Met's Website, www.metopera.org , will offer a free live audio stream  of the Gotterdammerung premiere on Jan. 27.

VIDEO CLIPS  
from three recent programs are now available

Meagan Miller, soprano, and William Hobbs, piano, January 9, 2100. Click  here to view a clip from the Holiday Musicale program that they presented.
Waltraud Meier: An Interview and Reception in Her Honor, April 8, 2011. Click  here to view interview clips from the multimedia program.
Die Walküre Seminar, May 1, 2011. Click  here to view  clips from the Seminar: Met Cast Roundtable Discussion (Marjorie Elinor Dix, soprano, and Stuart Skelton, tenor); and Jeffrey Swann, Prof. Edward R. Haymes, and Hilan Warshaw, lecturers. 

See the new Multimedia page for video clips from three previous programs.


Wagner Society of New York
Phone: (212) 749-4561; Fax: (212) 749-1542 
E-mail:
WagnerRing@aol.com 
E-mail Links: Wagner Society or WSNY Webmeister


Press inquiries: 212 749-4561

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