Programme 2018/19

Season 2018/19

Our events include talks, study days and the occasional social gathering.

We are always pleased to see new faces as well as former and current members of course! There is no need to let us know if you are coming – just show up – there will always be someone to greet you and help you settle into what, hopefully, will be an enjoyable and stimulating evening.

Please feel free to contact our Secretary if you have any queries.


The Friends’ Meeting House

6 Mount Street, Manchester, M2 5NS Venue info

This is our regular venue at which we hold our talks.  Evening sessions start at 6.30pm and finish at 8.30pm with a short break in between. The topics are extremely varied and range from examination of musical and cultural influences on Wagner, to exploration of the vocal, orchestral and technical challenges involved in performances of his works.

10th September 2018

Neil Howlett – Wagner’s Italian soul

8th October 2018

Professor Derek Hughes – Wagner and the Third Reich

12 November 2018

Derek Blyth – Loge: hero, villain or pragmatist?

14 January 2018

John Deathridge – His new translation of The Ring, and why a translator needs a view of the cycle

11 February 2019

Robin Hobbes – Time, Music and the Absolute: what Proust learnt from Wagner

8 April 2019

Kevin Stephens – Liszt and Wagner: friends, relations and influence


The Anthony Burgess Centre

Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester M1 5BY Venue info

We organise two Study Days per year at this venue which all are welcome to attend. The Study Days begin at 10am and finish at 3pm.

2 March 2019

Anthony Ogus – Staging Wagner – a talk on the evolution of Wagner production styles, including, video extracts and a general discussion

18 May 2019

Derek Blyth – Eine Heldenninleben – A Heroine’s Life.  Brünnhilde in ‘The Ring’