The Bayreuth Festival has announced that due to rising costs, it will cut its chorus by 40 percent. The organization said that the reduction will begin during its 2024 season and according to Platea Magazine, the chorus will be reduced from 134 to 80 members. Additionally, the festival noted that as its state subsidies will not increase and additional financial requirements {…}
(Photo: © Enrico Nawrath) As the final cycle of Bayreuth’s 2023 “Ring des Nibelungen” came to a close, the air remained electric with the sounds of Wagner’s apocalyptic horns and the swirling raptures of the Rhine. Camps came away divided into those either outraged or captivated by director Valentin Schwarz‘s reinvention of the Walsung’s messy journey into oblivion. To be {…}
(Photo Credit: Enrico Nawarth / Bayreuth Festival) It would be difficult to exaggerate the ways in which Jay Scheib‘s “Parsifal” at Bayreuth 2023 fails its sublime musical roots. From amateurish digital enhancement to bargain basement stagings, this opera sold out its mission in every way, save for one factor (more much later). In the front row of the loge {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has announced its 2024 season. The festival will open with Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” starring Andreas Schager, Günther Groissböck, Camilla Nylund, Olafur Sigurdarson, Birger Radde, and Ekaterina Gubanova. Semyon Bychkov conducts the production by Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson. Performance Dates: July 25-August 26 2024 Günther Groissböck, Klaus Florian Vogt, Markus Eiche, Olafur Sigurdarson, Jens-Erik Aasbø, and Elisabeth Teige {…}
(Photo credit: © Enrico Nawrath) Nathalie Stutzman debuted at Bayreuth this season with the festival’s production of “Tannhäuser.” She emerged triumphantly from the mystical abyss of the Bayreuth orchestra pit, where the conductor and the orchestra are hidden from the public. This unique orchestra space was designed as per Wagner’s specifications, who had been striving to create an immersive experience {…}
An art installation at the Bayreuth Festival featuring over 100 golden Wagners has gone missing. Per Art News, the piece, entitled “You’re Welcome,” which features 115 gold-painted statues of the Richard Wagner, each standing 19-inches tall, “mysteriously disappeared.” Per the report, the artist Ottmar Hörl, who calculates that “You’re Welcome” is worth around €12,000 ($13,200), believes that the pieces were {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has canceled the August 2, 2023, Festpiel Open Air concert. The company took to social media and said, “Due to the bad weather forecast and cool temperatures, we are unfortunately forced to cancel the Festspiel Open Air planned for today at 8 p.m. in the Festspielpark. We very much regret this and ask for your understanding.” The {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has announced upcoming productions for 2024 and 2025. The company announced that in 2025 it will present Matthias Davids’ new production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” under Daniele Gatti. Georg Zeppenfeld will sing the title role with Michael Spyres as Walter von Stolzing. Tobias Kratzers directs “Tannhäuser” in 2024 under music director Nathalie Stutzmann, while “Tristan und {…}
The Bayreuth Festival is set to present Wagner’s “Rienzi” in 2026. Katharina Wagner said in a text that she believes that “Rienzi” is now part of the canon even though Wagner himself had not found the opera worthy of Bayreuth. She said, “And I’m sure Richard Wagner, in his artistic restlessness, would have enjoyed it from today’s perspective.” “Rienzi” made {…}
This week audiences are in for rarely performed works by unknown composers as well as a complete recording of Wagner’s final installment of the Ring Cycle. Here is a look: Nikolay Myaskovsky: Vocal Works, Volume Two: Complete Songs for Baritone and Piano Ilya Kuzmin and Dzambolat Dulaev perform the works of Nikolay Myaskovsky alongside pianist Olga Solovieva. The new album {…}
Joseph Calleja has withdrawn from his upcoming performances of “Parsifal” at the Bayreuth Festival. In a statement, Calleja said, “Due to a persistent throat infection, I was advised by my doctor to withdraw from the current production of Parsifal here in Bayreuth. Goes without saying that this was a very hard decision to take, and I am so sorry for {…}