13895 Wagner News 174 - Wagner Society of England

The meeting moved on to consider the accounts, presented by the Treasurer, Herr
Horst Eggers. These documents had been circulated in advance. The general position was
healthy, with a reasonable surplus for 2011. A number of Societies had not paid their
membership dues, although it was expected that most of these would eventually pay. He
noted that 5,000 euros had been donated by the Verband towards renovation works to the
Wahnfried Museum in Bayreuth and that the Verband had also contributed to the staging
of a major exhibition devoted to Martha Mödl. The auditors had approved the 2011 annual
report in February 2012. The Treasurer was optimistic that 2012 would also prove to be a
financially sound one for the Verband. A budget had been requested for future years by
the Chair of the Danish Wagner Society and Herr Eggers noted that he supported this
suggestion and would look into the matter. Anthony Linehan (Chair, Wagner Society of
Ireland) asked that the accounts be presented in English and French in future years and it
was agreed that this would be arranged. The accounts were accepted by the members, with
one abstention.
Dr Specht then spoke about the Bursary arrangements for 2012, which were
progressing well. The Festival had guaranteed 1000 tickets for the Bursary winners and
their mentors and the Verband was grateful for this concession. He explained that the
process of allocating these tickets had been complicated, and therefore had taken longer
than foreseen, for which he apologised. 250 scholarships had been given this year to
young artists: 49 to German candidates, 23 to East European and 26 to other European
countries.
The resignation of Marcus-Johannes Heinz, the Secretary was
then announced and a new candidate, Philippe Olivier
(Strasbourg) was nominated. Dr. Olivier duly introduced
himself. He is French, although a fluent German speaker and
will no doubt contribute to the already close relationship
between the French and German members of the Verband. He
also mentioned that he would engage in political lobbying
within the EU as and when appropriate and was keen to develop
the profile of the Verband in this area. As he was the only
candidate he was duly voted in to the role of Secretary.
The meeting then moved on to presentations of future
Congresses, beginning with Leipzig in 2013. Thomas Krakow,
Dr Philippe Olivier
the President of the Leipzig WS spoke at some length about the
extensive and culturally rich programme for next year. Graz
would follow in 2014 and Hans Weyringer seduced us with the
potential charms of the place, and the added interest of a young directors Wagner staging
competition to be held during the Congress. Dessau would follow in 2015, with the
prospect of a full “Bauhaus” Ring Cycle.
There followed a motion proposing that the different Verbände submit reports on
Wagner performances in their areas to the RWVI. This was defeated on the basis that it
would constitute too onerous a task. The delegate from Milan proposed that Workshops be
held at Congress to discuss topics such as the reaction to recent Wagner productions in
Bayreuth. The delegates were not however in favour of official discussions of productions
as this was not felt to be the business of the Verband. The Parisian delegation reported that
they had asked for the City to rename a major street as rue Richard Wagner. This request
had not yet been successful. With this the meeting ended.
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