I had been applying for tickets for the Wagner Festival for 8 years, before I got one last year. My mother was required to wait 10 years, before she got a ticket this year. So we got tickets for Der Ring des Nibelungen, i.e. the whole cycle of four operas. Today we saw the first, i.e. the comparatively short (2.5 hours) prelude to Richard Wagner’s trilogy: Das Rheingold. To cut a long story short: I rather liked the experience, although critics
(NY Times review, podcast, Klassik heute, taz) were not very happy about Tankred Dorst’s production.
The production was very “static”, but I’m convinced that this was a leading idea of the director, which doesn’t mean that I liked that particular idea, but the overall result was quite good. Two of the singers were less convincing (the alto Rheintochter and Froh whose voice was simply not strong enough), but the overall musical level was quite impressive.
The major attraction of the Bayreuth Festival is the main atmosphere: people from all over the world, dressed in fancy clothing, eating Bratwurst on Bayreuth’s green hill. This is so strange! Don’t miss it, this is extroordinary!
congratulations on your Bayreuth’s wagner experience.
Your waiting for 8 years is almost like a world famous golf tournament at „masters golf tournament “ at Augusta, Georgia.
It is very difficult to get ticket.
I watched Russia Marinsky opera, „Ring“ cycle in Tokyo this year, my first experience, and it was excellent.