Wildnis 2025 -Wagner's Heroes

Wagner in der Wildnis XXIII:

Wagner's Heroes

Our 23nd Annual Weekend Retreat (a members-only event)

Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 1, 2025 

Cacapon Resort State Park 

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia 25411      

Click HERE to register. 

DEADLINE TO APPLY: MARCH 15, 2025

Background: :   Heroes or anti-heroes? Join us for an in-depth survey of Wagner’s controversial, complex heroes and how they are represented musically and dramatically. As always, we will be led through this exploration by our esteemed experts Simon Williams and Jeffrey Swann. Simon’s 2004 book, Wagner and the Romantic Hero, will be republished this year with new material and analysis. Jeffrey has been hard at work on his comprehensive scholarly analysis of the music of The Ring, which we hope will be published this year.

Pianist Jeffrey Swann offers his prized lecture-demonstrations at the piano.  An internationally renowned concert pianist, he is known from previous Wildnis weekends, his concert performances for the Wagner Society of Washington DC, his talks for the Smithsonian Institution Tristan und Isolde seminar in 2004, the Norn Scene for The Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 Ring production, and his lectures at Bayreuth.

Professor Simon Williams, Professor Emeritus after a thirty-year career at the University of California at Santa Barbara, presents his insightful lectures on Wagner and drama. His major publications include Wagner and the Romantic Hero, Richard Wagner and Festival Theater, A History of German Theatre (co-editor), and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting (sole editor).

The program features lecture and discussion sessions, informal conversations between sessions and at meals with lecturers and members, a DVD showing, and more.

Cacapon State Park, near Berkeley Springs, WVA, is a two-hour drive from downtown Washington. See http://www.cacaponresort.com for a virtual tour.

Registration Fee to be paid in full by March 15: The fee includes lectures, two nights’ lodging, breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning coffee, a welcome cocktail, and two after-hours parties. Rates vary depending on the type of room selected; please see below for rates.  WSWDC members at the Patron level or above receive priority for rooms.

NB: This is a members-only event. Are you a member for 2025? If no, please join on our website www.wagner-dc.org.  The membership requirement is waived for members of other Wagner Societies based in North America. Please tell us to which society you belong, if any, when you register.

Click HERE to register.

Registration fees:

$670 per person for a single room in the South Lodge

$535 per person, $1070 total, for a shared double room in the South Lodge with one queen bed

$575 per person, $1150 total, for a shared double room in the North Lodge with two beds

$625 per person, $1250 total, for a shared double room with one king bed

If you plan on lodging elsewhere, the cost is $400.00 per person.