Chairman: Mr. Heikki Virri
President: Mr. Peter Häggblom
Deputy Chairwoman: Ms. Riitta-Eliisa Laine
Members 705 (31.12.2003)

EVENTS

Turku:

20.1. lecture by Mr. Janne Haapanen on conducting the operas of Wagner according to Über das Dirigieren.

13.2. double lecture by Researcher Markku Jokisipilä and Professor Hannu Salmi on Wagner and Jewishness. Chairman for the discussion afterwards was Mr. Matti Lehtonen.

12.3. lecture by Mr. Matti Lehtonen on the music of Parsifal.

14. and 15.4. watching Parsifal (MET) on DVD. Special guest on 15.4. Mrs. Alexandra Skibinski, Chair of the Wroclaw Wagner Society.

14.5. lecture by Mr. Markku Lulli-Seppälä on the development of world music scales from ancient times to the future. On the same day a Wagner-exhibition was opened at the Sibelius Museum.

16.9. lecture by Professor Pentti Paavolainen on Wagner and dramatic art of his time.

8.10. lecture by Mr. Antti Vihinen, Ph.D. and the Managing Director of Sibelius Hall in Lahti, on the Wagner aesthetics of the Nazis. He also discussed Brigitte Hamann's book on Winifred Wagner.

6.11. the Society had a joint reservation to the Opera Gala at the Concert Hall.

26.11. Mr. Tero-Pekka Henell, the Intendant of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, hosted us before the performance of Paavo Suuri. Suuri uni. Suuri juoksu., an opera by Mr. Tuomas Kantelinen. After the opera our Turku Christmas Party followed at restaurant Enkeli.

8.12. Ms. Leena Kotka, Soprano, accompanied by Mr. Antti Kaihola performed the Wesendonck Songs including comments by Mr. Martti Parkkari.

Helsinki: 18.2. Ms. Helena Hiilivirta, Chief of Music at the Finnish Radio Broadcasting Channel 1, spoke of the recent channel reform and its significance to music programmes on the air. Our holder of Scholarship, Bass Baritone Kouta Räsänen, accompanied by Mr. Pekka Asikainen, performed two arias of Bach and Bellini.

14.3. the members had a chance to observe our previous holder of Scholarship, Mr. Ville Saukkonen, directing A Midsummer Night's Dream by Britten.

8.4. lecture by Professor Eero Tarasti on classical and recent Wagner research.

20.5. Ms. Cristina Andersson performed the Wesendonck Songs of which Mr. Martti Parkkari lectured.

3.6. the Film Archive of Finland showed the film Ludwig II as requested by our Society.

25.9. Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara lectured on his recently premiered opera Rasputin with music samples on CD.

23.10. lecture by Mr. Markku Jokisipilä on the connections between Wagner and Hitler.

25.11. Bass Baritone Juha Uusitalo, another previous holder of Scholarship and next Wotan at the Finnish National Opera, was interviewed by Ms. Paula Nurmentaus about his rising career. A minor Christmas Buffet was included.

Joensuu: 7.4. lecture by Mr. Klaus Pylkkänen on the Ring.

3.11. lecture by Mr. Petteri Nieminen, Ph.D., on the Wagnerian principle of continuous drama in symphonies and voices of nature in the works of Mahler.

OPERA TOURS 28.5. - 1.6. journey to the RWVI Congress in Copenhagen. The programme included Die Walküre, Salome and Tristan und Isolde.

17.-20.7. tour to the Savonlinna Opera Festival: Der fliegende Holländer, Tristan und Isolde and Turandot.

Bayreuth: 12.8. Lohengrin, 13.8. Tannhäuser and 14.8. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

25.-31.8. the Edinburgh Festival: Der Ring des Nibelungen.

SCHOLARSHIP Bayreuth Scholarship 2003, including Ring-tickets 6.-11.8., was awarded to Mr. Kouta Räsänen (Bass Baritone).

We are also pleased to tell you that our previous holder of Scholarship (year 2000), Mr. Tommi Hakala (Baritone), was the winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World 2003. The Cardiff competition is probably the world's most appreciated song contest.

PUBLICATIONS & BOOKS Our member magazine Wagneriaani (The Wagnerian) numbers 21 (72 pages) and 22 (60 pages) were distributed to all members and many international friends. Along with Finnish there were also articles in English, German and Swedish. Subscriptions 21 ¤ / year.

Barry Millington's book The Master Musicians Wagner (in Finnish Richard Wagner - Elämä ja teokset), translated by Mr. Jopi Harri and edited by Mr. Peter Häggblom, was published by our Society in October 2003.

HONORARY MEMBERS & HONORARY CHAIRMAN

Honorary Members

Ms. Anne Evans (Soprano) 1997,
Mr. Frank Shipway (Conductor) 1997,
Mr. Jorma Hynninen (Baritone) 1998,
Herr Wolfgang Wagner (Festival Director) 1998,
Mr. Peter Bassett (Author) 2000,
Mrs. Cecilia Rydinger-Alin (Conductor) 2001,
Mr. Pentti Perksalo (Tenor) 2001 and
Ms. Saila Luoma (Author) 2003.

Honorary Chairman

Mr. Uolevi Karrakoski (the founder of our Society) 2001.