Meetings of the Wagner Society of Scotland take place at Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3BL on Sunday evenings 7.30-9.30pm unless otherwise specified. Prospective members are sure of a warm welcome.
Speaker - IAIN FRASER: "In Italian or English? The first performances of Wagner's operas in Scotland."
Iain Fraser, who with his brothers Peter and Stephen co-founded the listings and archive website OperaScotland, will discuss its origin, development and some of the discoveries they have made. However Iain will focus mainly on the early performances of Wagner's operas in Scotland and the finding that they could push the performing history back earlier than previously assumed. For example, Opera historian and enthusiast Harold Rosenthal, one of the founders of Opera magazine, had been unable to identify a Valkyrie in Scotland earlier than 1910. OperaScotland now lists one in 1896.
Perhaps surprisingly to today's audience members, the first two productions that came to Scotland were Lohengrin (1875, sung in Italian) and Flying Dutchman (1877, sung in English). The productions and performance styles provide a fascinating contrast not just with the present day but with each other. Iain also outlines some of the personalities involved, offering a glimpse of Scotland's neglected operatic history.
Iain's first career was in construction subsequent to taking a University degree in Manchester (UMIST). He worked in London on building sites as a quantity surveyor during the day and often went to the ROH or ENO at night ("I did not realise you could combine work with pleasure then"). Since then, he has researched and lectured in entrepreneurship, small business management and marketing and has developed the OperaScotland website with his brothers and others. He lives in Fife.
Admission: Members £7 / Non-Members £10
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