News from the Members

Photos: 1. Lunch in Reykholt  2. Andreas Lösch President of the WS Bonn/Siegburg, Selma Gudmundsdottir, President of the WS Iceland and Arni Björnsson, author of "Iceland and the Ring (Wagner and the Völsungs)  3.  In Reykholt church

Members of the Wagner Society of Bonn/Siegburg recently visited Iceland. 15 people along with WS Chairman Andreas Lösch were in Reykjavik from 10-17 July and went on daily excursions around the country. In the evenings, lectures were given to the group by members of the Icelandic Wagner Society. Thorhallur Eythorsson talked about the Eddas, the Sagas and Wagner's Ring from a scientific point of view, Magnus Lyngdal Magnusson spoke about Parsifal and Selma Gudmundsdottir gave a brief overview of the musical history of Iceland, along with a presentation about the short version of the Ring, performed in Iceland in 1994 in co-operation with Bayreuth.

The members from Bonn also met with members of the Icelandic Association in Reykholt (the home of Snorri Sturluson) for a communal lunch and were then given a presentation by Arni Björnsson about Iceland and the Ring! The Icelandic Ambassador in Berlin, Gunnar Snorri Gunnarsson also attended.

On the last day there was an opera gala in the Harpa concert hall before the group returned to Germany!