April 10 & 11, 2017, Vienna State OperaThe conference aims to reflect the art of Wagnerian singing, in the basic questions as well as in details, from a scientific perspective as well as from practical experience. Are the criteria for singing Wagner different from those for the operatic singing in general? If so, what is the specific challenge of singing Wagner? How is a “Wagner voice” defined, and what fundamental characteristics determine a so-called “big voice”, which is necessary for Wagner and whose absence has always been and continues to be brought about?Wagner’s own ideas and ideals are again questioned in this context: the “Worttonmelodie der menschlichen Stimme”— which Wagner writes about in Oper und Drama—as a symbiosis of “Wortsprache” and “Tonsprache”, his notion of “Gesangswohllaut” and “vaterländischer Belcanto”, and the question of the “singing actor” in the Heldenfach are presented amongst others in contributions from international researchers and internationally renowned Wagner interpreters from a historical as well as a contemporary perspective

.A masterclass with Deborah Polaski concludes the conference, bringing together theory and practice—a fundamental aim of the Academy’s symposia.

Speakers and discussion participants

Piotr Beczala, Aviel Cahn (Opera Vlaanderen), John Deathridge (King’s College London), Angela Denoke, Tatjana Gürbaca, Kasper Holten, Clemens Hellsberg (Wiener Philharmoniker), Germinal Hilbert (Hilbert Artists Management), Tomasz Konieczny, Thomas Lausmann (Wiener Staatsoper), Marjana Lipovšek, Laurenz Lütteken (Universität Zürich), Christoph Ulrich Meier (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien), Dominique Meyer, Andrew Moravcsik (Princeton University), Stephan Mösch (Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe), Dirk Mürbe (Universitätsklinikum Dresden), Deborah Polaski, Thomas Seedorf (Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe), David Trippett (University of Cambridge), Susanne Vill (Universität Bayreuth), Christopher Ventris, Simone Young; Deborah Polaski’s masterclass will involve students from Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien.656 kBProgramme „Worttonmelodie der menschlichen Stimme“. Die Herausforderung, Wagner zu singen