The Richard Wagner Society of the Upper Midwest

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Happenings Elsewhere

There is still time to help us help support local musicians by donating to Music in Action! Your donation will be matched, dollar-for-dollar. Who knows? Maybe we'll discover the next great Brünnhilde, Siegfried or Wotan!

SAVE THE DATE: Not really "happening elsewhere," but in September, we'll launch our Fall 2021 events schedule with our first in-person event in over 18 months - our annual Founders' Day Dinner! We're tentatively planning on Sunday, September 19, 4-7 PM. There will be food and beverages served, and more than enough Gemütlichkeit to banish those lingering pandemic blahs! As we finally emerge from quarantine, our musical program will appropriately focus on redemption and renewal in Wagner's operas. DON'T MISS IT!

Our friends at St. Croix Valley Opera are hosting their marquee event of the year, Opera On The River, on Saturday, August 7, at 7 PM. The concert is performed at Lowell Park in downtown Stillwater, adjacent to the scenic St. Croix River. It's free and open to the public, but for a wee bit of cash, you can also buy VIP tickets, which entitle you to VIP seating up near the stage, and access to the exclusive OOTR VIP After Party at the Water Street Inn.

A friend of RWSUM, Richard Evidon recently shared a beautiful, personal tribute to the incredible Christa Ludwig, who recently passed away at age 93. Richard's tribute includes a number of links to Ms. Ludwig's recorded performances. She was simply a gem like no other.

We also received notice that a theatrical adaptation of Das Rheingold, written for the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, has been published, with the mythic tale of gods, giants and dwarves restaged as a modern play in a significantly different interpretation. The cost for the script is 9.95€.

Happenings Elsewhere:

The following are listed roughly in chronological order based upon when a live performance will be available (either via livestream or as performed in real time in a venue - remember those?), or when a recording (audio + video, or sometimes audio only) will be first accessible to stream or download:

Streaming Now: The Aix-en-Provence Tristan und Isolde is available to stream until November 1. The Opera Critic has a published a list of over two dozen reviews.

Justin Anthony Spenner, a local baritone whose assistance proved invaluable as we developed our Music in Action grant program last year, premiered a compelling new film project on July 17, and it remains available to stream on demand until August 17. I Enter as a Stranger is a multi-discipline production of Franz Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise (1828) featuring local artists Justin Anthony Spenner (Producer/Baritone), Sequoia Hauck (Director), Darrius Strong (Choreographer) Carson Rose Schneider (Piano), and Jeff Korte (Photographer). I Enter as a Stranger removes the romantic narrative from Die Winterreise, focusing instead on the poetic themes of mental illness. Music, dance, photography, and film merge to tell the story of four individuals searching for connection and recognition as they navigate their own neurodiversity. Their worlds intersect, and lines of reality blur together as they gain an understanding of each other. You can view the trailer here.

The Bayreuth Festival began this year's Digital Festival on July 26 with Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, followed by Das Rheingold (July 30), Lohengrin (July 31), Tannhäuser (August 2), Die Walküre (August 6), Tristan und Isolde (August 9), Parsifal (August 10), Siegfried (August 15), and Götterdämmerung (August 21). These are archival productions, and streaming of them will be free of charge. Learn more here.

Also, the casts for Bayreuth's 2022 Ring Cycle and 2023 Parsifal have been announced!

Lyric Opera of Chicago begins streaming their pandemic-era production of Twilight:Gods on demand on July 29, and you have until October 29 to experience this drive-thru opera once you register. Registration is free, but register you must! Yuval Sharon adapted Wagner's final Ring opera to a parking garage for Michigan Opera Theatre, and he brought the production to Chicago. Our friend and recent Conversations guest, Christine Goerke, reprises her portrayal as Brünnhilde.

San Francisco Opera will be streaming their production of Die Meistersinger August 7-8.