Wagner festival gets a revamp, but is it only skin deep?
Richard Wagner's two great-granddaughters, directors of Bayreuth's renowned opera festival, are repolishing the event. Deutsche Welle's music editor says there's a lot of new style, but the substance remains to be seen.
The 98th Richard Wagner opera festival opened on Saturday in Bayreuth in southern Germany with a very brief appearance by the new directors Eva Wagner-Pasquier, and her half-sister, Katharina Wagner. The two women are great-granddaughters of Wagner and have decided to try to give the highly popular event an update. Newslink host Jackie Wilson spoke to Deutsche Welle's music editor Rick Fulker, who was in Bayreuth.
DW: Have the two great-granddaughters succeeded in giving the event a new polish?
Rick Fulker: Judging from the first act of Tristan, which we've just seen at the premiere, you can't say much yet because the production already existed and it's actually rather drab. The scenery is sort of a run-down luxury liner and there is very little stage action. In fact if the strike had happened as they thought, the production could have gone along without the stage work, since there is very little to see. So you can't judge on the basis of one act of one performance. In fact, this year there are no new productions, but there are some things on the side. They've revamped the Web site again, they've refreshed the podcasts, they're reinstating public viewing later in the season and, all in all, there's an effort being made to show that the two are sort of face-lifting the festival. They are especially interested in public relations. A lot of style, but the substance remains to be seen
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The 98th Richard Wagner opera festival opened on Saturday in Bayreuth in southern Germany with a very brief appearance by the new directors Eva Wagner-Pasquier, and her half-sister, Katharina Wagner. The two women are great-granddaughters of Wagner and have decided to try to give the highly popular event an update. Newslink host Jackie Wilson spoke to Deutsche Welle's music editor Rick Fulker, who was in Bayreuth.
DW: Have the two great-granddaughters succeeded in giving the event a new polish?
Rick Fulker: Judging from the first act of Tristan, which we've just seen at the premiere, you can't say much yet because the production already existed and it's actually rather drab. The scenery is sort of a run-down luxury liner and there is very little stage action. In fact if the strike had happened as they thought, the production could have gone along without the stage work, since there is very little to see. So you can't judge on the basis of one act of one performance. In fact, this year there are no new productions, but there are some things on the side. They've revamped the Web site again, they've refreshed the podcasts, they're reinstating public viewing later in the season and, all in all, there's an effort being made to show that the two are sort of face-lifting the festival. They are especially interested in public relations. A lot of style, but the substance remains to be seen