Sailing towards Wagner's Dutchman

'The Complete Wagner' experience on Zoom actually has its source in the Trossachs, where I stepped in to take over a summer course at the beautifully-located Gartmore House for the Wagner Society of Scotland. With only a week's notice, I had to adapt what I'd already done - an Opera in Depth term on Das Rheingold. The Scottish Wagnerites liked it, asked me back for successive summers on the other Ring operas. I did the same for Die Walküre, but then in 2020 Covid struck, so Siegfried needed to transfer to Zoom. Online, I've since gone through Götterdämmerung, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Parsifal. Keen Zoomers from America and elsewhere will be able to catch up on Die Walküre in the summer term of the Opera in Depth course, to coincide with the second instalment of Barrie Kosky's Ring at the Royal Opera. Special guests? Who knows, just yet. But I'm so proud and happy that Antonio Pappano and Richard Jones actually overlapped in one of our Puccini Trittico classes (click to enlarge).

Where next, for summer Wagner? Back to the beginning, of course. Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot and Rienzi seemed only to merit one two-hour session each, and Der fliegende Holländer, being much shorter than the big 'uns, needs five classes rather than 10. So it is that next Tuesday afternoon we embark on the early journey. Do join us: if you can't attend live, I can send the videos. Full details on the flyer below (click to enlarge).