Our next Wagner Society Manchester talk, at 7pm on Monday 12^th February, is entitled  ‘Wagner’s Melodies, Bellini’s Sinnlichkeit’, and is given by Professor David Trippett of Cambridge University’s Faculty of Music.  The talk focusses on Wagner’s relation to Italy and Italian culture, and sets out from the myth that (unlike Rossini) Wagner was unable to compose true melody, despite placing this at the centre of his ideal for expression in Opera and Drama. The talk will consider the wider influence ofItalianità on Wagner’s concept of sensuality (Sinnlichkeit), and will place this in the context of debates that continue to this day about Wagner’s cultural identity, asking why national categories of Italian / German continue to provoke divergent responses from scholars. Dr Trippett is the editor of a new book, ‘Wagner in Context’, being published in March 2024 which examines the rich array of intellectual, social and cultural contexts within which Wagner worked.