The Wagner Society of Santa Fe

2016 Photo Journal January 17, 2017

Celebrating La Fanciulla del West and the Santa Fe Opera The Wagner Society of Santa Fe galloped to embrace La Fanciulla del West as Puccini’s Wagnerian opera. La Fanciulla opened the 60th anniversary season of the Santa Fe Opera, a beloved cultural icon in the Land of Enchantment and beyond. The society marked the occasion with its biggest event of 2016 – a sold-out party honoring the Santa Fe Opera and its leader, General Director Charles MacKay (#1).

The celebration opened with our superstar Wagner pianist Joseph Illick (#2) delivering a rousing talk on La Fanciulla, replete with musical illustrations on the piano, and highlighting its connection to Wagner’s operas.

#1 Charles MacKay is ready to have fun #2 Joe Illick captivates the audience

Cowboy hats (#3) were ubiquitous. Some guests dressed in gold (#4), others in Western attire (#5 - #8). Turquoise abounded (#7), as did fancy boots (#9). In keeping with the Gold Rush theme of La Fanciulla, the banquet tables (#10) were decorated in faux gold décor to complement a hearty steak dinner.

#3 Hats outside the dining room wait for their owners to finish dinner.

#4 Mara Robinson with #5 From left, Ellen Vladem, #6 From left, Fran A’Hern Smith and Estelle Maestro Joe Illick Gina Browning, and Laurie Rosenblum. Rossi

#7 Alan and Liz Lerner #8 Tres Hombres: from left, Ben Saiz , Robert

Vladem, and Pen La Farge

#9a Emma Scherer #9b Jan Denton #9c Robert and Ellen Vladem

#10 Demi Poskonka volunteered her decorating skills to adorn the dinner tables with edible centerpieces and gold-wrapped chocolate coins. Diners played a saloon-type card game to win the centerpieces.

Congratulatory notes from Santa Fe Opera artists were on display (#11), as were a variety of unique items (#12) for a silent auction. The auction raised $6,000 to support screenings of two Wagner operas and an artist’s talk later in the summer.

#11 Santa Fe Opera artists with Wagner connections sent messages and photos (left) to congratulate the Santa Fe Opera on its 60th anniversary. Many commented on how the Santa Fe Opera helped shape their careers.

#12 “Minnie” (a.k.a. soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet) donated a private performance of “Happy Birthday” in a Wagnerian mode. Tom Arthur (above) was the lucky winner of this silent auction item.

Many thanks to all who contributed to, volunteered for, and attended the anniversary party.

The anniversary celebration came on the (cowboy boot) heels of a March 1 screening of La Fanciulla, starring Wagnerian soprano goddess Nina Stemme as Minnie in a production from the Royal Swedish Opera House. The screening was hosted by the Wagner Society of Santa Fe, which thanks the Santa Fe Opera for its support.

#13 “Jack Rance” (the late Paul Hutton) and “Minnie” (Winnie Klotz) at the screening.

Paul Hutton, who died in early December, was one of the original members of the Wagner Society of Santa Fe. He always had cheerful words for everybody and sang his greetings in the style of Louis Armstrong. Paul shared 30 marvelous years with Winnie Klotz. Their romance began in New York, where Winnie was a Metropolitan Opera photographer and Paul owned auto body shops. They met when Winnie brought her wrecked Cadillac in for repair.

Paul passed away peacefully. We send our deepest sympathies to Winnie. We shall miss Paul.

For Opera Lovers – A Whiskey Tasting, a Shakespeare Musical Soirée, and a Garden Party Thanks to the generosity of a number of Wagner Society of Santa Fe friends and members, three unique events up for bid in the March 4 silent auction offered Wagner opera lovers the opportunity to mingle with kindred spirits of both the human and bottled sort.

On June 25, Ellen Marder and Wolfgang Schmidt-Nowara (#14) hosted a whiskey-tasting party, to which several guests brought their favorite whiskeys to share with other guests. Among the tastings were Taos Lightning rye; Icelandic, Irish, and Japanese whiskeys; and small-batch bourbons.

#14 Ellen and Wolf with Wagner Society #15 “Polka Saloon” Santa Fe style. The pianist Guarantor Circle member Preston Reed (left) is playing Puccini melodies.

#16 From left, Ron Hull; Adrian Smith, who sang a very #17 The Wagner Society of Santa Fe’s first volunteer, good Hans Sachs at the 2015 Apprentice Showcase; Don Percious (left), and Golden Apple member Charles Yoko Arthur; and Mary Lee Hull, at Ellen and Wolf’s Mize flank Wagnerian soprano Jeanne-Michèle whiskey-tasting party Charbonnet, a super-generous Wagner Society of Santa Fe donor, who is shown here enjoying a glass of rare

whiskey

Thank you, Ellen and Wolf!

Beth Beloff and Marc Geller’s stunning home, which showcases impressive Native American and folk art collections and offers a view of the Santa Fe Opera, was the site of a magical soirée featuring UnShakeable, a Santa Fe Opera-commissioned work

commemorating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Maestro Joe Illick, who composed the 45-minute chamber opera, talked about how he wed music to the Bard’s words. Andrea Fellows Walters, the Santa Fe Opera's Education and Community Program director, is the librettist who has expertly woven together dialogue from six Shakespeare plays to create one new love story set in the future.

#19 From left, soirée hosts Marc Geller and Beth Beloff with composer Joe Illick and librettist Andrea Fellows Walters

#18 Some 30 soirée guests listen attentively to Maestro Illick

#20 Wagner Society of Santa Fe member Laurie Rossi (far right) having a “girls’ night out” at the UnShakeable soirée with her sister Lonnie Blumenthal (left of Laurie) from Greensboro, N.C., and Victoria Amado (far left) from Long Beach, Calif., with whom Laurie and Lonnie have been friends since childhood. Laurie's neighbor from Espanola, Jolanta Weber, completes the foursome.

As the most sought-after item at the silent auction, UnShakeable raised the most money, with partygoers vying for the opportunity to attend this highly coveted event.

Thank you, Beth and Marc!

Edgar Daniels opened his gorgeous house and lush garden on July 25 for a garden party that was truly enchanting despite the rain. Star soprano Amanda Majeski, who sang as Countess Madeleine in the 2016 production of Capriccio at the Santa Fe Opera, and Capriccio conductor Leo Hussain attended, along with their families and special friends of the Wagner Society of Santa Fe. This is the second year that Edgar has hosted a garden party to benefit the Wagner Society of Santa Fe, which makes him our top donor by far.

#21 From left, Sam Handley, soprano Amanda Majeski, #22 Garden party guests enjoy the outdoors after the Jody Gilmore-Kirchner, and host Edgar Daniels rain stopped.

#23 Family togetherness – top row from left, conductor #24 Santa Fe painter Shelley Horton-Trippe (left) and Leo Hussain; his fiancée, soprano Laura Nicorescu; and daughter Beth Murphy, curator at Ralph Coe Foundation, his parents from England, Noor and Rosemary Hussain; share a mother-daughter moment in Edgar’s garden. with Edgar Daniels (in front) Shelley donated one of her own works – a painting

inspired by La Fanciulla del West – to the March 4 silent auction. She exhibits at LewAllen Galleries.

Thank you, Edgar! If you’re unaware of these events, it’s because you missed our silent auction. Please join us next time.

“Ask Sam” Program Sam Handley, a bass baritone with a growing Wagner repertoire, spent an hour on August 13 answering questions from Wagner Society of Santa Fe members. Topics ranged from the difference between a voice teacher and a coach to how to brighten one's voice and what’s involved in making a go at singing Wagner. Sam recently covered Wotan in Longer! Louder! Wagner – a collaborative production from the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Second City. In attendance were two special guests – Sam's wife, soprano Amanda Majeski, and James Brandt Quirk of Santa Fe and Tucson. James is the great-great-grandson of Richard Wagner’s Leipzig stage manager, Frederick Brandt, who landed in Galveston, Texas, in the early 1840s.

#25 The audience listens attentively as Sam Handley speaks. #26 Sam has been a teacher, and it showed in his presentation.

#27 Sam Handley chats with David McNeel of Chicago and Santa Fe, who is a Santa Fe Opera board member and avid Wagnerian. They know each other from when Sam was at the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center.

The audience responded enthusiastically to the “Ask Sam” program and appreciated Sam's candor. Thank you, Sam!

The Wagner Society of Santa Fe Bench at the Opera Despite a threatening sky, more than 40 people assembled on August 21 at the Santa Fe Opera for an informal ceremony to dedicate a bench (#27) gifted to the opera house by the Wagner Society of Santa Fe. Seven members of the society's Guarantor Circle pooled their own funds to commission the bench. Charles MacKay, the opera's general director, participated in the dedication. After the ceremony, the group attended the opera's Apprentice Showcase, which featured a scene from Wagner’s Tannhȁuser. Thank you, David Holloway, director of the Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Singers Program, for bringing a touch of live Wagner to Santa Fe.

#27 The dedication plaque attached to the Wagner Society of Santa Fe bench

#28 Karen Loud (in blue jacket), Wagner Society of Santa Fe co-founder and Guarantor Circle member, opens the dedication ceremony.

Guests enjoy conversation and desserts (#29), including a cake baked by David Harrington (#30), one of the original members of the Wagner Society of Santa Fe.

#29 Guests ignore a threatening sky #30 David Harrington’s cake (left)

#31 From left, Natalie Beiser; Charles MacKay; Wagner #32 Nüart Gallery director Peter Gaugy (left) with Society of Santa Fe Golden Apple members Lloyd god of gods, renowned Wotan James Morris Derrickson and Katherine Ortega (Katherine’s signature used to appear on all U.S. government checks); and Kathy Brown

Please remember to look for the Wagner Society of Santa Fe bench next time you visit the Santa Fe Opera. You will be rewarded with a special view!

Lest you think that we party all the time …

… The Wagner Opera Screening Series Continues

The fact is that all this partying raises funds to support our education programs, including screenings of Wagner operas (see below). Thanks to a generous contribution from Wagner Society of Santa Fe’s dear friend Edgar Daniels and a gift from the Wiener Staatsoper, we began with a four-day screening in June 2015 of the Ring cycle, conducted by Simon Rattle at the famed opera house. It was an exhilarating and, indeed, exhausting experience.

Still, after a well-deserved hiatus, Wagner Society of Santa Fe members soldiered on, turning out in force to watch screenings of two other Wagner operas in 2016. Rienzi – from a 2010 live performance at Deutsche Oper Berlin – made its film debut in Santa Fe on July 10 at The Screen, courtesy of the Naxos of America. Conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing, speaking via Skype from Europe, introduced this early work by Wagner to the audience eager to experience the rarely performed opera.

On September 17, the Wagner Society of Santa Fe took a plunge and showed a daring regietheater production of Lohengrin from the 2012 Bayreuth Festival (#33), also courtesy of the Naxos of America. Mezzo soprano Petra Lang (pictured at left in white), who sang Ortrud, Skyped into The Screen to chat with the audience. Ethereal-voiced Klaus Florian Vogt (third from right), who sang the title role, offered a personal video message to the Wagner Society of Santa Fe, recorded in Bayreuth by Guarantor Circle member David Hughes. David has posted the video on our Facebook page.

#33 A curtain call at a live performance of Lohengrin in Bayreuth After the Lohengrin screening, 30 audience members moved from The Screen to local favorite Harry’s Roadhouse and engaged in robust conversation about the opera over snacks and drinks (#34). The Lohengrin screening elicited two thoughtful comments – on rats and other elements of the avant-garde production – from Wagner Society of Santa Fe members Peter Chapin and Karen Kleeman. Their essays appeared in the October newsletter.

#34 From left, Tamar Stieber, Ann Lodge, Evelyn Kennedy, Bob MacPherson, Ellen Vladem, and Tatiana Andreeva at Harry’s Roadhouse

“Ride of the Valkyries” ends 2016 at the Lensic If you were lucky enough to attend either of the Lensic Performing Arts Center's sold-out New Year’s Eve concerts, you were treated to an abbreviated version of Wagner’s "Ride of the Valkyries" (from the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre) conducted by Wagner Society of Santa Fe co-founder Yoko Arthur, followed by Joe Illick conducting the Performance Santa Fe Orchestra playing Beethoven's Ninth. What a magnificent way to ride out 2016 and usher in 2017, which marks the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese lunar calendar. Happy New Year!

#35 and #36 Yoko Arthur conducts the Performance Santa Fe Orchestra at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe.

Ring Cycle in Leipzig Eight Wagner Society of Santa Fe members scored tickets to the Ring cycle – performed in four consecutive days – in Leipzig, Germany, in May. Their photos will appear in the next newsletter, which will also include information on the highly anticipated Dresden Ring cycles, with Christian Thielemann conducting, in January and February 2018. Subscription tickets go on sale January 25. We’ll also provide details of the San Francisco Opera’s June and July 2018 Ring cycles. Tickets will be available starting January 17. Photo credits: Notice board images courtesy of Suzan Reed Graphics, Arlington, Virginia #1, 6, 7, 8, 9 a-c, and 12 by Judy Moore Kraichnan #35 and 36 by Gina Browning, courtesy of Performance Santa Fe All other photos by Yoko Arthur This Wagner Society of Santa Fe Photo Journal was created by Yoko Arthur, with much-appreciated help from editor Tamar Stieber. The Wagner Society of Santa Fe is looking for a volunteer to assist with online graphics support for its newsletter. If you are interested, please email us at wagnersocietyofsantafe@gmail.com.