As Peter Gelb Seems To Threaten To Cancel 2014-15 Season. Orchestra Responds

Whose Head Is Being Called For?

Unions respond to Gelbs's letter threatening a "lockout. Full response below.

Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb Threatens Lockout, Cancellation of the 2014/2015 Opera Season;

Orchestra Musicians Denounce Gelb’s Long-Planned Lockout as a “Cynical strategy to cover up his failed management and
lack of artistic vision"

OU Offers Free Undergraduate Course

While it may seem a little off topic,  there are certainly things here of interest to those with an interest  in Wagner. We recently discovered that the Open University offers a number of distance learning course on-line and for free.  While nodoubt intended to offer "tasters" to their full graduate and undergraduate course many of the modules themselves - for that is what they appear to be - would seem to offer something of interest for more than a few people. We have gone through the list available under "Arts and History" and have selected a few we thought general readers might find of use or to be of interest. Click the header to be taken to the course overview. Expected study time anywhere between 10 to 24 hours. If its a tad "basic" for yourself perhaps you might want top pass this on? The Music Theory introduction seems especially useful.

An introduction to music theory

This unit provides an introduction to music theory pitched at a level equivalent to Grades 1-3 of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music theory exams. The material will provide you with an understanding of such basic building blocks of music notation as music staves, clefs, rhythmic and pitch values, rhythmic metre and time signatures. You can test your understanding as you proceed by completing simple multiple-choice questions.

After studying this unit you should have:

• a satisfactory understanding of the basic building blocks of musical theory and notation
• an understanding of music theory comparable to that demanded by Grade 3 of the Associated Board of the Royals Schools of Music theory syllabus
• an understanding of music theory that enables you to move on to Open University Level 2 and Level 3 Music courses, e.g. A224 Inside Music.

Making sense of art history

In this unit you’ll explore art history. Look around you, it’s likely that wherever you are you’ll be able to see some images, it’s also likely that many of these image will be intended to have some sort of effect on you. Here you will be exploring the power of images via a study of contemporary art from the 1980s onwards. Taking the time to look beyond the immediate appearance of an art work to consider what the artist might be trying to say can be immensely rewarding.

Studying this unit will:

• enable you to develop your ability to identify the effects of art works;
• introduce you to a range of artistic techniques, such as the use of colour, composition and medium;
• enable you to explore the relationship between effects and techniques in a range of art works;
• enable you to explore some of the factors involved in interpreting meaning;
• enable you to explore the significance of context in informing the interpretation of art works;
• enable you to further develop your study skills.

Schubert's Lieder: Settings of Goethe's Poems

This unit looks at the short poems in German that were set to music by Franz Schubert (1797–1828) for a single voice with piano, a genre known as ‘Lieder’ (the German for ‘songs’). Once they became widely known, Schubert's Lieder influenced generations of songwriters up to the present day.This unit then discusses a selection of Schubert's settings of Goethe's poems, and recordings of all of them are provided. You can find the poems, in German with parallel translations into English and the music scores of four of the song settings, on the unit home page. You are not expected to be able to read the music, but even if you are not very familiar with musical notation, you may well find the scores useful in identifying what is happening in the songs.

By the end of your work on this unit you should:

• have learned about Schubert's place as a composer in early nineteenth-century Vienna;
• have learned about the place of Schubert in the history of German song and the development of Romanticism;
• be able to follow the words of songs by Schubert while listening to a recording, using parallel German and English texts;
• be able to comment on the relationship between words and music in Schubert's song settings.

The Holocaust

This unit explores the Holocaust, as the destruction of European Jewry is commonly known. The mass killing represented by the Holocaust raises many questions concerning the development of European civilisation during the twentieth century. This unit, therefore, covers essential ground if you wish to understand this development.

By the end of this unit you should have:

• a perception of the enormity of the events under discussion;
• a recognition of the kinds of ideas and incidents which may have prompted them;
• an awareness of the historical arguments surrounding the Holocaust;
• an awareness of the relationship between the Holocaust and the war.

Helen Langdon's ‘Caravaggio’

Accounts of Caravaggio's life are filled with suggestions of murder and intrigue. But does knowing more about this dark artist's experiences help us to interpret his art? Or does understanding his motivations cloud their true meaning? This unit explores the biographical monograph, one of the most common forms of art history writing.

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

• analyse the pros and cons of the biographical monograph in art history;
• examine the strengths and weaknesses of the biographical monograph in relation to other kinds of art history writing

Art and Visual Culture: Medieval to Modern

What is art? What is visual culture? How have they changed through history? This unit explores the fundamental issues raised by the study of western art and visual culture over the last millennium. It moves from discussing the role of the artist and the functions of art during the medieval and Renaissance periods to considering the concept and practice of art in the era of the academies before finally addressing the question of modern art and the impact of globalisation.

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• understand the changing perceptions and definitions of art across history
• understand the relationship between ‘art’ and visual culture
• understand the global dimension of art and how it has changed over time
• understand the significance of notions of ‘function’ and ‘autonomy’ for art history
• understand the role of patronage, institutions and the wider historical context in shaping art
• understand some of the major developments in western artistic practice since the Middle Ages.

Roaring Twenties? Europe in the interwar period

While recognising the shadows cast by two world wars (one concluded and one imminent) over European society during the 1920s and 1930s, this unit demonstrates how a number of specific features indicate that the interwar period was a distinctive and important moment of modernity in the twentieth century, from the rise of the metropolis and the emergence of new forms of mass media, to the changing lifestyles of women and the increasingly interventionist approaches to managing the health and welfare of modern populations.

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• understand the terms ‘modernisation’, ‘modernity’ and ‘modernism’ and the ways in which they relate to each other, as well as know about the experience of modernity in interwar Europe
• understand the main historical debates about society and culture in interwar Europe, in particular a sense of the patterns of change and continuity, and the extent to which any change can be attributed to the First World War
• interpret visual sources, use data in tables to construct arguments, and summarise historiographical review articles.

Imagination: The missing mystery of philosophy

What is imagination and can philosophy define it in any meaningful way? This unit will introduce you to some of the possible answers to these questions and will examine why philosophy has sometimes found it difficult to approach imagination. It will then go on to examine the relationship that imagination has to imagery and supposition, charting where these concepts overlap with imagination and where they diverge.

By the end of this unit you should:

• be able to discuss basic philosophical questions concerning the imagination;
• have enhanced your ability to understand problems concerning the imagination and to discuss them in a philosophical way.

Where To Listen To Bayreuth 2014 - Free

Yes, its that time of year again. As always there are multiple places to listen to the Bayreuth festival live on the net but alas, should you not have any German they can be difficult to traverse. So, with that in mind we list the live performances available to listen to below. Clicking a link will take you directly to the player which should then allow you to listen to the performance - on the date specified.

Note: Clicking the link pay lead to a "popup". If so, you may need to temporarily disable any popup blocker you use for these links.

July 25 - TANNHAUSER. Starts 14.00 GMT. Click Here To Listen

Conductor Axel Kober 

Director Sebastian Baumgarten 

Stage design Joep van Lieshout 

Costumes Nina von Mechow 

Lighting Franck Evin 

Video Christopher Kondek 

Dramaturgy Carl Hegemann 

Choral Conducting Eberhard Friedrich 

Landgraf Hermann Kwangchul Youn 

Tannhäuser Torsten Kerl 

Wolfram von Eschenbach Markus Eiche

Walther von der Vogelweide Lothar Odinius 

Biterolf Thomas Jesatko 

Heinrich der Schreiber Stefan Heibach 

Reinmar von Zweter Rainer Zaun 

Elisabeth, Nichte des Landgrafen Camilla Nylund 

Venus Michelle Breedt 

Ein junger Hirt Katja Stuber

July 26. DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER. Starts: 18:00 GMT. Click Here To Listen

Conductor Christian Thielemann 

Director Jan Philipp Gloger 

Stage design Christof Hetzer

Costumes Karin Jud 

Lighting Urs Schönebaum 

Video Martin Eidenberger 

Dramaturgy Sophie Becker 

Choral Conducting Eberhard Friedrich

Daland Kwangchul Youn 

Senta Ricarda Merbeth 

Erik Tomislav Mužek 

Mary Christa Mayer 

Der Steuermann Benjamin Bruns 

Der Holländer Samuel Youn

July 27 DAS RHEINGOLD. Starts at: 16.00. Click Here To Listen

Conductor Kirill Petrenko 

Director Frank Castorf 

Stage design Aleksandar Denić 

Costumes Adriana Braga Peretzki 

Lighting Rainer Casper 

Video Andreas Deinert / Jens Crull

Wotan Wolfgang Koch 

Donner Markus Eiche 

Froh Lothar Odinius

Loge Norbert Ernst 

Fricka Claudia Mahnke 

Freia Elisabet Strid 

Erda Nadine Weissmann 

Alberich Oleg Bryjak 

Mime Burkhard Ulrich 

Fasolt Wilhelm Schwinghammer 

Fafner Sorin Coliban 

Woglinde Mirella Hagen 

Wellgunde Julia Rutigliano 

Floßhilde Okka von der Damerau

July 28 DIE WALKÜRE. Starts at: 16:00 GMT.Click Here To Listen

Conductor Kirill Petrenko 

Director Frank Castorf 

Stage Design Aleksandar Denić 

Costumes Adriana Braga Peretzki 

Lighting Rainer Casper 

Video Andreas Deinert / Jens Crull

Siegmund Johan Botha 

Hunding Franz-Josef Selig 

Wotan Wolfgang Koch 

Sieglinde Anja Kampe

Brünnhilde Catherine Foster 

Fricka Claudia Mahnke

Gerhilde Allison Oakes 

Ortlinde Dara Hobbs 

Waltraute Claudia Mahnke 

Schwertleite Nadine Weissmann 

Helmwige Christiane Kohl 

Siegrune Julia Rutigliano 

Grimgerde Okka von der Damerau 

Rossweisse Alexandra Petersamer

July 30 - SIEGFRIED. Starts at 16.00 GMT. Click Here To Listen

Conductor Kirill Petrenko 

Director Frank Castorf 

Stage Design Aleksandar Denić 

Costumes Adriana Braga 

Peretzki Lighting Rainer Casper 

Video Andreas Deinert / Jens Crull

Siegfried Lance Ryan 

Mime Burkhard Ulrich 

Der Wanderer Wolfgang Koch 

Alberich Oleg Bryjak 

Fafner Sorin Coliban 

Erda Nadine Weissmann

Brünnhilde Catherine Foster 

Waldvogel Mirella Hagen

July 31 LOHENGRIN. Starts at 16.00 GMT.Click Here To Listen

Conductor Andris Nelsons 

Director Hans Neuenfels 

Stage Design Reinhard von der Thannen 

Costumes Reinhard von der Thannen 

Lighting Franck Evin 

Video Björn Verloh 

Dramaturgy Henry Arnold 

Choral Conducting Eberhard Friedrich

Heinrich der Vogler Wilhelm Schwinghammer

Lohengrin Klaus Florian Vogt 

Elsa von Brabant Edith Haller

Friedrich von Telramund Thomas J. Mayer 

Ortrud Petra Lang

Der Heerrufer des Königs Samuel Youn 

1. Edler Stefan Heibach 

2. Edler Willem Van der Heyden 

3. Edler Rainer Zaun 

4. Edler Christian Tschelebiew

August 1 GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG. Starts at 16.00 GMT. Click Here To Listen

Conductor Kirill Petrenko 

Director Frank Castorf 

Stage Design Aleksandar Denić

Costumes Adriana Braga

Peretzki Lighting Rainer Casper

Video Andreas Deinert, Jens Crull 

Choral Conducting Eberhard Friedrich

Siegfried Lance Ryan

Gunther Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester 

Alberich Martin Winkler

Hagen Attila Jun 

Brünnhilde Catherine Foster 

Gutrune Allison Oakes 

Waltraute Claudia Mahnke 

1. Norn Okka von der Damerau 

2. Norn Claudia Mahnke 

3. Norn Christiane Kohl 

Woglinde Mirella Hagen 

Wellgunde Julia Rutigliano

Floßhilde Okka von der Damerau

Wagner Festival - Norfolk

Epic Operas Come To Norfolk as Dynamic Company Makes Theatre Royal Debut

THEATER FREIBURG

The scale, dynamic vision and sheer grandeur of two of Wagner’s epic works are set to provide a summer treat in rural Norfolk as one of Europe’s most highly-regarded opera companies leave their German base for some major UK dates.

Theater Freiburg will swap the German city where they have been presenting opera for over 100 years for a temporary summer home at Norwich Theatre Royal to present both Parsifal and Tannhäuser.

Peter Wilson, chief executive of Norwich Theatre Royal, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Theater Freiburg have agreed to come here for what will be an undoubted cultural success.”

The short season will open with Wagner’s final opera Parsifal on Wednesday July 23 with a second performance on Friday July 25.