Our Own JJ (not pictured) just came running into the parterre offices wild-eyed with excitement. And no wonder, because the news, once we got him to spit it out, is that he has been credentialed to cover the Bayreuth Festival this summer, reporting for the New York Post on the new Ring, Lohengrin and Der Fliegende Holländer.
The Bayreuth Festival is trying something new and outreachy this season: an extra non-subscription performance of Das Rheingold on August 10, offered exclusively through online sales. The first come, first served tickets go on sale October 10 at 18.00 CET (which La Cieca thinks means noon here in NYC) and up to four places may be purchased. No ten-year waiting lists; you just have to be ready to click and have your credit card handy.
Zachary Woolfe (not pictured) makes his way to Bayreuth to try to unravel the Evgeny Nikitin mystery. Though many questions remain unanswered, it’s still a compelling read. (Don’t miss the Christian Thielemann pullquote near the end!) [New York Times]
The opening performance of the already-notorious 2012 Bayreuth Festival, Der Fliegende Holländer, begins at noon today EDT and is relayed on a number of web-available radio stations.
Evgeny Nikitin has withdrawn from the Bayreuth Festival’s new production of Der Fliegende Holländer after a German television program revealed the bass-baritone has a swastika tattoo.
This Hans Neuenfels staging for the Bayreuth Festival caused quite a stir at its 2010 premiere, but now, with time and distance, how radical is the production?
“Pathos and the high tone is not his thing,” helpfully explains Google Translate in reference to “Provokateur” Frank Castorf, who has been selected to direct the Ring at Bayreuth in 2013, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth. [Berliner Morgenpost]
Stefan Herheim’s production of Parsifal for Bayreuth is the regie Holy Grail—a production that completely fulfills the promise and purpose of Regietheater.
Cher Public