Visiting the Bayreuth Festival
Aug. 8th, 2004 06:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakSo, Bayreuth. When Noel Coward cracked, about the musical „Camelot“, that it was „twice as long as Parsifal but only half the fun“, he wasn’t intending a compliment to Parsifal. It’s not a very accessible opera, but it does have its fascination. A couple of years ago, I saw it with James Levine conducting, Placido Domingo in the title role and Waltraud Maier as Kundry, and melted.
This year, however, the director was Christoph Schlingensief. Who caused headlines a few weeks before the premiere by quitting, then returning. The director playing truant is an ill omen, and the result was a desaster. Now if Schlingensief had stuck to one idea and trusted his basic conception, which was to play the grail cult as an African or Voodoo religion, it might have been interesting. (The so-called “Voodoo Macbeth” by a 22-years-old Orson Welles still sounds thrilling and one wishes to have been there.) But no. The stage is so cluttered with useless people walking to and thro without any recognisable purpose and basically every prop from every culture or kitsch in existence. And endless video projections, which with the exception of two images had no recognisable relationship with the opera content – you stared at seals, or microbes parting, or hares for eons. Also, the very erratig light caused by said video projections served to freak the singers out till the premiere, according to Wolfgang and Gudrun Wagner, and they (the singers) had to deal with the constantly revolving stage already.
The Wagners invited yours truly for a quick snack in the second break, as they had done in the last two years. They’re people one feels like disliking when reading about them in the papers, or in fact in memoirs and biographies, but can’t help liking in person. Wolfgang W. with his mixture of Wagner and Liszt heritage in the face, now well into his 80s, looks like the kindly Renoir portrait of his grandfather rather than like the more famous vulture profile portraits. Also, the Franconian accent he talks in is oddly endearing when you’re from Franconia yourself, and neither he nor his wife Gudrun are in any way condescending. On this particular occasion, they were also astonishingly frank about the production.
“I’ve never had so much legal correspondance in my life as with this man,” Gudrun W. said, referring to Schlingensief, “and there is no end in sight.” They never had commented on running productions within my earshot or in any papers before, but in this case, they basically said they hated the director’s guts. According to them, he was abusive to all the singers, had ignored all the talks they had before hiring him and had wanted to bring even more people, props and video projections cluttering the stage. “In place of an actual idea, one supposes,” Wolfgang W. said. “His concept seems to be to make everything as unclear and confused as possible.”
“And not to show the actually important moments,” Gudrun W. agreed, mentioning the kiss between Parsifal and Kundry in the second act, which is the climax, highlight and turning point of the opera, as a case in point. (It takes place in the dark in Schlingensief’s production, with the singers being obscured by the revolving stage turning them awy from the public to boot.)
They also resented him for his feud with the singers – notably the tenor singing Parsifal, but also the others whom they said he treated as “singing machines” – which led to several breakdowns, voice-wise, into the premiere itself though thankfully the singers had recovered by now.
Asked which directors they had the best memories of, Wolfgang W. declared that without a doubt, those would be Harry Kupfer and Patrice Chereau. (You might know Patrice Chereau at least, because he directs movies every now and then – the last internationally successful one was La Reine Margot - and earlier used to do a bit of acting, notably as Camille Desmoulins in “Danton” with Gerard Depardieu in the title role.) Since these two had directed the “Ring”, I gave into temptation and asked whether they had found a replacement for Lars van Trier yet, who was supposed to direct the next one but cancelled last month. No, they had not. This was truly an annus horribilis for them.
At the end, there were boos for the director (who didn’t dare to come on stage), but tremendous applause for the singers, who were uniformly good, it had to be said. Since the singers-versus-Schlingensief (with the Wagners siding with the singers) had made the papers a few days earlier, it was, of course, another statement as well.
Photos, not of the production:
Self, friend of mother's and mother hanging out in the first break. The people behind us are queing to buy expensive drinks, one reason why being invited in the second break was great.
Aged parents & self standing in front of the main entrance. If you're morbidly curious about the more infamous chapters of Bayreuth's past, that would be where press photos of Hitler & Co. were taken.
This year, however, the director was Christoph Schlingensief. Who caused headlines a few weeks before the premiere by quitting, then returning. The director playing truant is an ill omen, and the result was a desaster. Now if Schlingensief had stuck to one idea and trusted his basic conception, which was to play the grail cult as an African or Voodoo religion, it might have been interesting. (The so-called “Voodoo Macbeth” by a 22-years-old Orson Welles still sounds thrilling and one wishes to have been there.) But no. The stage is so cluttered with useless people walking to and thro without any recognisable purpose and basically every prop from every culture or kitsch in existence. And endless video projections, which with the exception of two images had no recognisable relationship with the opera content – you stared at seals, or microbes parting, or hares for eons. Also, the very erratig light caused by said video projections served to freak the singers out till the premiere, according to Wolfgang and Gudrun Wagner, and they (the singers) had to deal with the constantly revolving stage already.
The Wagners invited yours truly for a quick snack in the second break, as they had done in the last two years. They’re people one feels like disliking when reading about them in the papers, or in fact in memoirs and biographies, but can’t help liking in person. Wolfgang W. with his mixture of Wagner and Liszt heritage in the face, now well into his 80s, looks like the kindly Renoir portrait of his grandfather rather than like the more famous vulture profile portraits. Also, the Franconian accent he talks in is oddly endearing when you’re from Franconia yourself, and neither he nor his wife Gudrun are in any way condescending. On this particular occasion, they were also astonishingly frank about the production.
“I’ve never had so much legal correspondance in my life as with this man,” Gudrun W. said, referring to Schlingensief, “and there is no end in sight.” They never had commented on running productions within my earshot or in any papers before, but in this case, they basically said they hated the director’s guts. According to them, he was abusive to all the singers, had ignored all the talks they had before hiring him and had wanted to bring even more people, props and video projections cluttering the stage. “In place of an actual idea, one supposes,” Wolfgang W. said. “His concept seems to be to make everything as unclear and confused as possible.”
“And not to show the actually important moments,” Gudrun W. agreed, mentioning the kiss between Parsifal and Kundry in the second act, which is the climax, highlight and turning point of the opera, as a case in point. (It takes place in the dark in Schlingensief’s production, with the singers being obscured by the revolving stage turning them awy from the public to boot.)
They also resented him for his feud with the singers – notably the tenor singing Parsifal, but also the others whom they said he treated as “singing machines” – which led to several breakdowns, voice-wise, into the premiere itself though thankfully the singers had recovered by now.
Asked which directors they had the best memories of, Wolfgang W. declared that without a doubt, those would be Harry Kupfer and Patrice Chereau. (You might know Patrice Chereau at least, because he directs movies every now and then – the last internationally successful one was La Reine Margot - and earlier used to do a bit of acting, notably as Camille Desmoulins in “Danton” with Gerard Depardieu in the title role.) Since these two had directed the “Ring”, I gave into temptation and asked whether they had found a replacement for Lars van Trier yet, who was supposed to direct the next one but cancelled last month. No, they had not. This was truly an annus horribilis for them.
At the end, there were boos for the director (who didn’t dare to come on stage), but tremendous applause for the singers, who were uniformly good, it had to be said. Since the singers-versus-Schlingensief (with the Wagners siding with the singers) had made the papers a few days earlier, it was, of course, another statement as well.
Photos, not of the production:
Self, friend of mother's and mother hanging out in the first break. The people behind us are queing to buy expensive drinks, one reason why being invited in the second break was great.
Aged parents & self standing in front of the main entrance. If you're morbidly curious about the more infamous chapters of Bayreuth's past, that would be where press photos of Hitler & Co. were taken.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 10:05 pm (UTC)Some of HGO's experimental productions were marvelous; this one was not.
The Bayreuth Festival is something that is on my list of "things I'd like to do" one day, as is the Seattle Ring Festival (Seattle, alas may be more in my reach than Bayreuth). I'd love to hear Parsifal in the house it was written for.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 12:37 am (UTC)Crossing my fingers for you on account of both Seattle and Bayreuth here...
no subject
Date: 2004-08-07 10:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 12:38 am (UTC)http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,310638,00.html
After having read so much about the "aged parents" in your previous travel reports, it's good to finally get a glimpse of them. They look a bit different from how I imagined them to be, but very nice, indeed. Please give them my best regards.
Your vanity is perfectly justified ;-)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 01:26 am (UTC)That particular press report: was mentioned as part of the reason for Schlingensief's utter loathsomeness.
Merci beaucoup, and I shall tell them.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 05:49 am (UTC)What you wirte on the production sounds horrible indeed. It is, however, what many productions (be they traditional or modern) suffer from these days: the lack of a clear cut concept.
Two notable exeptios from the last two years come to my mind: The Düsselorfer Schauspielhaus staged an "Holländer" that felt more like musical than an Opera (with ships and all ...), but was really great, and Köln staged a modern Don Giovanni which was quite shrill at times but convincing in the end.
F.
PS.: Oh, and I need to say this ;-): Nice dress :-)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 07:15 am (UTC)And thank you.*g* It's one of the advantages of being female in Bayreuth - you're not forced to wear suits and drown in transpiration (because, remember, no air conditioning due to the accoustics), you can wear dresses which give you space instead...
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 07:24 am (UTC)*gg*
some years ago, fashion designers came up with the idea of a skirt for men, but somehow the idea wasn't successful, which is a pity indeed ;-))
F.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 11:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 08:29 am (UTC)I have the tapes of the Boulez-Chéreau production. It is absolutely stunning and musically heavenly. I also love practically anything Harry Kupfer directs, even if it's a bit brutalist at times (I'm thinking of his Macbeth in Munich a couple of years ago.) Kupfer & Barenboim brought a Lohengrin to Paris 5 or 6 years ago which was a complete marvel.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 08:37 am (UTC)I was lucky with tickets for Bayreuth in recent years; by now, the only opera I haven't seen there is a Tristan, and there will be a new one next year!
Tristan? *swoons*
Date: 2004-08-08 08:45 am (UTC)*faints*
Can I give you my kidneys (and pay masses of gold to the scalper of your choice, and a standing invitation to Paris anytime for any length of time) for one ticket to go with you?
I love Tristan. I recently got the Furtwaengler version with Flagstad & I just melt when I hear it.
Re: Tristan? *swoons*
Date: 2004-08-08 09:02 am (UTC)I just aquired the Furtwängler & Flagstadt (1952) one myself, in Bayreuth, and am at the moment listening to it.
Re: Tristan? *swoons*
Date: 2004-08-08 12:51 pm (UTC)I might come to Munich - I actually drove in my car to Ueberlingen, where I am taking a cure, with the express intention of travelling around a bit. Also most of my German friends, including one I mean to convince to work with me in September, are in Munich, where I lived for a couple of months in 1997. The one drawback are these pesky Alps, meaning that it's a three hour drive when you don't own a flying Ford Anglia. Hmmm... let's think a bit.
Re: Tristan? *swoons*
Date: 2004-08-11 09:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 11:25 am (UTC)Thankfully (or not) I managed to avoid Schlingensief interviews on TV. But a pal from the theatre tells me he is like this with every production, so yes, it was to be expected.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 01:46 pm (UTC)Incidentally, I know you'll have heard Bryn Terfel's Wotan, but have you ever seen him?
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 10:55 pm (UTC)The Fanged Four going to the Parsifal premiere would be lovely idea, except for one huge logistics problem.
1) August. The Bayreuth Festival always is. End of July, and the first August weeks. And the performances start at 4:00 pm. Which means
2) Daylight. Lots and lots thereof. The sun doesn't set until 10:00 pm these days. So during both breaks and at the arrival, all guests are fully exposed to same.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-09 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-09 05:37 pm (UTC)I liked the idea of "Parsifal," because I remember it pissed a lot of hard-core afficionados off -- or so I recall from reading Nietzsche. Angelus would be infuriated at Wagner for getting all redemption-y, whiile Spike might be ambivalent. Then maybe they tried to do a "Misery" number on old Richard? I'm just saying.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 01:32 am (UTC)I still like the idea of Angelus going Misery on old Richard. Though Darla would argue that the scenes between Kundry and her darling boy make it all worth it.*g*