14th September 2015, Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester
Dame Anne Evans in conversation with Robin Hobbes on becoming a Wagner singer. An evening with a great singer who is now a teacher and mentor working with many of today’s up and coming stars such as Alwyn Mellor and Rachel Nicholls will be a privilege indeed.
The defining version of the Ring Cycle for many of us, now available on DVD, is the Barenboim-Kupfer production at Bayreuth in the period 1989-1992. Dame Anne Evans regards the role of Brünnhilde in that production as the pinnacle of her career, “the hardest Ring I ever performed in”, and a special opportunity not only to sing with Siegfried Jerusalem, John Tomlinson and Waltraud Meier but also to develop the role under the guidance of Daniel Barenboim and Wolfgang Wagner.
For glimpses of the production go to the interview by Per-Erik Skramstad on Wagneropera.net.
Dame Anne’s husband, John Lucas, comments that “many people assume that all you need to sing Wagner is a whacking great voice, but the truth is different”. Dame Anne describes singing most of Mozart’s major soprano roles as “medicine for the voice”, along with generous helpings of Verdi and Strauss.
Image: Reuter-Wagner-Museum Library