© Bayreuther Festspiele, Meistersinger 2018

News from the Members

18.05.2017
A convivial weekend in Lyon
An event of excellence and conviviality - the Cercle Richard Wagner - Lyon celebrated its 35th anniversary in March 2017, surrounded by numerous friends, with an exceptional programme of events.
During this extended weekend, the Richard Wagner-Lyon Circle celebrated 35 years of existence with his friends of the Richard Wagner Francophone and Leipzig Circles, and in the presence of his honorary member, Prof. Michal Mrozowicki All wished to show their attachment to both Wagner and the Lyon association.

Thanks to appropriate programming at the Opéra de Lyon, the Cercle was able to celebrate its anniverasry in grand style around the annual "Mémoires" festival, which featured outstanding productions from years gone by. Among these were Tristan und Isolde, directed by Heiner Müller (Bayreuth, 1993) on Saturday 24 March and Elektra directed by Ruth Berghaus (Dresden, 1986) on Sunday 26 March. Both were under the musical direction of Hartmut Haenchen. On the Saturday afternoon in the Amphitheater of the Opéra de Lyon, in parallel with these two opera performances, the Cercle Lyonnais organised a recital of the Wesendonck-Lieder, performed by the soprano Hjördis Thébault and the pianist Nobuyoshi Shima, which was warmly received by the 200 Wagnerians present. The recital was preceded by a lecture entitled "Wagner and the infinite melody", by Christian Merlin, who dazzled his listeners as usual with his erudition.

Nearly 240 people attended from all over France, but also from Belgium, Switzerland and notably Germany. A delegation of no fewer than 40 people came from the Leipzig WS, led by its President Thomas Krakow;  The delegation was received on the evening of Friday 24th in the salons of the Town Hall by Myriam Picot, Vice-President in charge of culture for the city of Lyon, in the presence of members of the Lyon WS, along with Maestro Haenchen, who hails originally from Dresden.

The Cercle Richard Wagner -Lyon and its President were very proud and honored by the approach of the city of Lyon, which not only symbolises the cordial and concrete relations that we maintain with the Wagner Society of the city of Richard Wagner's birth, twinned with Lyon, but is also proof of the dynamism and excellence of our own Wagner Society.

This musical weekend ended with a gala dinner, attended by 140 guests and orchestrated by the starred chef Lherm. The final note of this occasion was a mounted piece, adorned with a swan illuminated by sparklers. This was the conclusion of a magnificent programme celebrating the thirty-five years of the Richard Wagner-Lyon Circle, the success of which left each of the guests with beautiful memories both musical and convivial.