The View from the Villa
Iain Burnside & Richard Wagner
THU 25 JUNE 2020
In 1855 Wagner’s patron Otto Wesendonck and his wife Mathilde built a sumptuous villa overlooking Zurich. Two years later they bought the house next door, Asyl, and invited Wagner and his wife Minna to move in. The Wagners were at one another’s throat. Mathilde was young, beautiful and highly intelligent. What could possibly go wrong?
Iain Burnside’s innovative form of music theatre illuminates Wagner’s masterly Wesendonck Lieder. The lives of four extraordinary people are interwoven with the words and music they inspired.
View from the Villa had scheduled performances cancelled at Bath Festival and Leeds Lieder Festival. The artists came to the Theatre in the Woods for an impromptu workshop performance, to show the work in development.
OTTO WESENDONCK Wagner’s patron ∙ MATTHEW BROOK
MATHILDE WESENDONCK Otto’s wife ∙ SUSAN BICKLEY
MINNA WAGNER Wagner’s wife ∙ VICTORIA NEWLYN
PIANO ∙ IAIN BURNSIDE
◈
Music ∙ RICHARD WAGNER
Wesendonck Lieder, Branders Lied and extracts from Die Walküre and Tristan und Isolde
A picnic from . . .
Matthew Brook
Coronation chicken with salad
Elderflower Cordial
Fruit Salad
Victoria Newlyn
Roast chicken salad with plenty of fresh mint and coriander
Hummus and things to dip into it
Salt & vinegar crisps
Almond Cake
Pink wine
Chicken Salad with Tarragon & Grapes
From Sue Bickley
– 1 cooked chicken, about 3 lb (1.35 kg) or 3¾ lb (1.7 kg) raw weight
– 1 heaped teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
– 4 oz (110 g) seedless green grapes, halved
– 5 fl oz (150 ml) mayonnaise, preferably home-made
– 3 fl oz (75 ml) double cream
– 3 spring onions, finely chopped
– 1 small lettuce, washed and allowed to dry
– few sprigs watercress
– salt and freshly milled black pepper
- Remove the skin from the chicken and slice the flesh into longish pieces where possible.
- Remove all the chicken from the bones and place all the meat in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper.In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise thoroughly with the cream, adding the chopped tarragon and finely chopped spring onions.
- Now pour the sauce over the chicken, mix it well so that all the chicken pieces get a good coating, then arrange it on a plate of crisp lettuce leaves and garnish with green grapes and a few sprigs of watercress.