Wagner2013

2013-Ring in a gulag?

2011-07-29T17:44:00.000+02:00

Festspiele 2010

2010-08-12T11:10:00.002+02:00

Besides Thielemann… the vacuum.

Fafner's death

2010-04-01T08:23:00.002+02:00

May he rest in peace... with uncle-Wolf.

A much (de)served prize

2010-01-25T22:05:00.000+01:00

Would DonaldDuck be Bayreuth’s Festspielleiter, he would certainly be awarded this prize.

Christmas breaking-news

2009-12-24T12:56:00.001+01:00

So it appears that in 2013 – in Bayreuth - we’ll have around just marzipan-Wagner-busts, t-shirts and beer-cans carrying Richard’s image.

Well deserved?

Festival’s false start

2009-07-27T15:16:00.002+02:00

Last weekend was really bad for Bayreuth: an opening Tristan, that only the VIPs have appreciated (but, you know, they’re there for free, can show their toilettes and smokings, talk to the TVs, but in the end are perfect ignorants). Witnesses tell us that the Tristan performed in Stuttgart three days before was by far of a higher level.

Sunday’s Meistersinger wasn’t so bad from the musical standpoint. Pity that the Regisseurin was a Kathi Wagner (incidentally, co-Festspielleiterin from this edition). Apparently, her Regietheater (aka Eurotrash) staging, albeit revised from the 2007 original, has just brought the audience to exasperation and millions of people in the world could hear by radio the much deserved boohs and insults for that crazy havoc of one of Richard’s masterpieces.

Unions’ Festival uphill

2009-07-23T12:04:00.003+02:00

2009 – a transitional year for the Festival, with no new stagings – will be remembered for a pretty new performance: the Verdi (no, not Giuseppe’s fans) revolt against low wages and long working hours. Up to the last moment a strike that could block the festival’s opening is not to be discarded.

Add to this the problems that Kathi is having in Spain, and the announcement of the farewell between Thielemann and the Münchner Philharmoniker (that will not put the Kapellmeister in the best mood…) and you have the picture of a rather shaky start of the new KW-EWP management.

Why Wagner was wrong

2009-03-10T20:57:00.000+01:00

He didn’t foresee this (kind of) Service!

Bad news

2009-01-24T14:07:00.002+01:00

Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum.

2008-12-25T08:30:00.002+01:00

Black Gold for Bayreuth?

2008-10-30T17:10:00.003+01:00

The Katharina-Christian duo scored big in Abu Dhabi with the Festspiele tournée. Perhaps a stream of black gold will start flowing from the Gulf to the Green Hill (who cares about pollution?)

In exchange, will a Ring in arab language be performed in the Festspielhaus? It would certainly do less harm to Wagner’s dramas than the great-granddaugther’s stagings!

She’ll be too busy

2008-10-15T13:57:00.001+02:00

Katharina will surely be too busy to be able to act as Festspielleiterin and Regisseurin at the same time.

Bayreuth will then be spared her idiot interpretations of her great-grandfather's dramas, like the Rienzi being displayed in Bremen.

Wagner family firmly in power

2008-09-03T08:51:00.002+02:00

This was (formally) the last WW-led Festspiele: the venerable RW’s grandson has retired on August 31st.

Since the RW-Festspiele is a public entity, anyone could apply for WW’s succession. But nobody lost his time: the Wagner name has still such a strong power, that even the RW’s third generation could claim its de-facto (not the legal) right to stay in the driver’s seat. Kathi, Eva and Nike were the names among which the Stiftungsrat had to select the new Festspielleiter(in). They were invited last november to apply with their Konzepte: after an initial setting of two teams (Kathi+Thielemann+Ruzicka vs Eva+Nike) the sudden departure of Gudrun (who was since years the behind-the-scenes Festspielleiterin on behalf of WW) has accelerated the path of the succession and also changed the teams, and actually KW+EW run against NW+Mortier. With most of the press, Thielemann and even the Kanzlerin at their side, Kathi (and her once hated halfsister) could easily make it. At least up to 2015 (including therefore the fateful 2013) they will be in charge of the most exclusive and controversial Festival in the world.

What can we expect from the new management (that restores after 60 years a weibliche Macht in Wahnfried)? Eva will likely deal with the artistic side of the job: selecting and recruiting artists (hopefully to raise the level of todays’ poor quality of the Festspiele), while Kathi will speed-up her innovation frenzy (and its lucrative business side) in different areas: media support, Kindergarten-Wagner and possible extension of the Wagner’s works to be staged in Bayreuth (Rienzi, quite likely).

Herheim’s Zauber

2008-07-27T23:54:00.001+02:00

On friday july 25th, 2008, a special Karfreitags Zauber was displayed on the Festspielhaus’ stage: Parsifal, after inspiring and giving place to the Germany of the 19th century’s end, to the Germany of the first world war, to the Germany of the third Reich and to the Germany of the second world war... came to the rescue of humanity in destroying, with the newly recovered sacred spear, Hitler’s regime!

Indeed, we can now understand History!

Thank you, Stefan!

Bayreuth 2008 Parsifal

2008-07-18T23:36:00.005+02:00

In exactly one week from now last chords of Parsifal, conducted by my compatriot Daniele Gatti, will close the 2008 Bayreuth’s opening.

The brand new Festspiele’s site - only in german, for the t.ime being - brings some previews of the Herheim’s Inszenierung, while the Kurier publishes an interview with the norwegian director.

Very interesting documents, indeed. A new Eurotrash piece of vandalism stands out on the horizon.

Opening the doors of the Festspielhaus

2008-07-13T19:13:00.002+02:00

Kathi’s 2008 initiatives (the streaming of MS on july 27 and its open-air broadcasting in a Bayreuth’s square) are surely to be welcomed: progress must not be stopped in any way, and the use of all means in order to bring artistic expressions to the largest possible audiences is to be encouraged.

Yes, artistic expressions... perhaps not an Eurotrash piece of vandalism like KW’s MS: I will therefore donate my 49€ to nobler operas than this one.

Herheim’s self-quotation

2008-06-25T12:26:00.001+02:00

So it seems that Stefan Herheim will eventually show us a Parsifal in Bayreuth, after decades of boring Parsifals in Monsalvat and recent lunatic Parsifals in kennels.

Not a brand-new idea, though. His Rheingold in Riga a couple of years ago featured the main characters (Wotan, Alberich and Loge) as Richard Wagner himself, and Ring and Walhall as the Bayreuth treasures (Theater and Wahnfried).

Is the genius short on fantasy?

Rienzi gains support

2008-06-03T21:40:00.002+02:00

The end to the ban for Rienzi is welcome in Wien...

195!

2008-05-22T17:35:00.001+02:00

Happy birthday, Richard!

One more... for the time being

2008-04-29T18:23:00.003+02:00

WW going to retire after the 2008 close.

Unconditionally?

The Stiftungsrat knows what to do now.

In any case, Fafner is still very healthy (according to his spokesman Stefan Müller).

Breaking news: the couple is not WWs!

2008-04-13T20:52:00.000+02:00

Did Fafner make the move that lets Siegfried kill him?

Better two than none ?

2008-04-12T00:40:00.002+02:00

The fantastic offering by WW (both his daughters to replace him at the helm of the Festspiele) tells us two things:

1. WW’s first choice (Kathi with friends) had chances of making it through the April 29th Stiftungsrat close to zero;

2. rather than risking to lose the whole hoard, Fafner-WW has brought forward the most inconsistent scenario of all: nothing on earth can make the two half-sisters cooperate on anything.

Good reasons for the Stiftung for selecting an outsider?

Next stop: april 29th

2008-03-20T21:10:00.002+01:00

On april 29th the Stiftungsrat is going to gather for a new round of the saga.

What was promised (after the former meeting earlier in november) was to make a careful scrutiny of the Konzepte submitted by the different family candidates, in order to decide who’s deserving the prize of sitting on top of the Grüne Hügel.

In the meanwhile the acting festspielleiter (Gudrun Wagner) has passed away, putting even more pressure on Fafner-WW for promoting his jounger daughter Kathi to the prestigious award: this has also contemplated the founding of new WW-KW-Gesellschaften, since the control of a huge amount of money (of citizen’s taxes and interest-holding sponsors) is certainly more important today than how to bring Bayreuth back to respectability.

Hands-on

2008-03-03T08:51:00.001+01:00

The recently established WW-KW-family-company starts showing its targets.

Live from the grave

2008-02-27T20:55:00.007+01:00

Bayreuth innovates.

And Kathi doesn’t miss the chance of appearing behind any leave that rustles near the Festspielhaus.

Her problem? How can one see anything on a maxi-screen at 4 pm in july?

Titles

2008-02-10T08:17:00.001+01:00

Er - un nur er - war ein Genie.

Indeed.

Due diligence

2008-02-08T20:33:00.000+01:00

So Kathi&C have their plan.

To put it better: they have disclosed the austere Bild that they have one.

Opening to sponsors is one of the pillars of the plan. Not bad, money is never to be overlooked.

Limited responsibility

2008-02-03T22:26:00.001+01:00

Everything is good for Fafner to guard his hoard.

Now, a Tochterschaft!

The “german oak”

2008-01-31T14:14:00.000+01:00

The Stiftungsrat of nov. 6th, 2007 had decided to wait for the Wagner-applicants to present their konzepte on the future of the Festspiele.

But why lose time to working hard, when you can get much more from ads?

So Kathi, after giving hundreds of interviews to any kind of media during last months, has now added a pretty strong - though futile - credential to her candidature. According to the V.i.S.d.P magazine, she is:

“a german oak... that has resisted an averse media-environment... and who followed the wishes set out by her great-grandfather Richard”.

So, who needs more?

Wolfgang and the Nazis

2008-01-30T08:35:00.001+01:00

Vulcanic Mostlyopera has drawn our attention to the nazi side of Bayreuth (and in general of its entourage, including Karajan, Furtwängler, and others).

In the first clip reported here, taken in 1940, in few frames around seconds 21-23, we can see a face that is almost surely that of Wolfgang Wagner, then 21 and still today Festspielleiter of the Festival. Some argue that the young man captured there could be Wieland, Wolfgang’s brother and then 23.

In any case, we know from many witnesses and records that, being Hitler so close to Wahnfried, for his long time relation with Winifred (who allegedly brought him the paper on which Mein Kampf was written, during Hitler’s inprisonment) the two Siegfried’s sons were so familiar to the Führer that they called him uncle Wolf. And a couple of pictures, taken in the early ‘30s, fully show this intimacy:

Surely the two brothers were feeling the extraordinary privilege of being so close to the most important person of the world.

Then, when taking charge of the Festspiele (in ’48, after the so called de-nazification process) they were 31 and 29, with a mother who stubbornly continued to proclaim herself close to the nazi ideology. They never had to make any refusal of their past... simply let others put forward the theory that they were just too young and almost unaware of what was going on in their own country (?!) And actually, when his son Gottfried started “asking tough questions” (around mid ’70) Wolfgang ousted him from Wahnfried!

From the artistic point of view, the worst mistake was probably made in ’73 (when the Stiftung was reorganized) in giving Wolfgang the “leader-for-life” role.

Is anyone willing to stage this?

2008-01-06T22:30:00.000+01:00

Slavoj Zizek is one of the most renowned Wagner critics at large. Here’s his vision for a Parsifal (2004).
____
Imagine - my private dream - a Parsifal taking place in a modern megalopolis, with Klingsor as an impotent pimp running a whorehouse; he uses Kundry to seduce members of the Grail circle, a rival drug gang.

Grail is run by the wounded Amfortas whose father Titurel is in a constant delirium induced by too much drugs; Amfortas is under a terrible pressure from the members of his gang to perform the ritual, i.e., deliver the daily portion of drugs to them.

Parsifal is a young inexperienced son of a single homeless mother in search of drugs, and he "feels the pain" and rejects Kundry's advances while she is performing fellatio on him...

Such experiments, of course, are risky, they often ridiculously misfire - however, not always, and there is no way to tell it in advance, so one has to take the risk.
_______

Risky? Ask Schlingensief, Guth, Kathi, and all Eurotrash champions!

(hope Stefan Herheim isn’t reading...)

The bayreuther wall

2007-12-14T10:26:00.000+01:00

At the ceremony in memory of Gudrun, Eva and Gottfried (daughter and son of Wolfgang’s first wife) didn’t show up.

Don’t lose time

2007-11-30T12:50:00.000+01:00

24 hours after the death of her mother, Kathi has taken the lead of the ongoing-business at the Festspielhaus.

The show must go on, and Fafner-Wolfgang needs a reliable partner to manage the business: who better than his and Gudrun’s spross ?

Festspielleiterin’s death

2007-11-28T22:30:00.000+01:00

Gudrun - the real behind the scenes Bayreuth queen - has died after a routine-surgery hospitalization.

In these circumstances any comment at business level would be inappropriate.

Auch Christoph!

2007-11-21T13:04:00.000+01:00

The vulcanic Schlingensief is lining-up for the seat! Together with american friends.

He may well be an Eurotrash-champion, but on one thing he’s right: why has the Festspiele’s management to remain in Wagner’s hands forever?

Rienzi gains ground

2007-11-20T12:17:00.000+01:00

Today the Leipziger, next year the Bremer (KW) staging...

Rienzi is resurging from the dust!

(preparing a trip to Bayreuth?)

Even the founder of a Corporation is fired...

2007-11-12T08:26:00.000+01:00

Ken Olsen, Steve Jobs, George Perlegos, even Bill Gates (in a sense) are examples of Corporate founders that have been ousted by their Boards.

Since the Bayreuther Festspiele is no more a private property of the Wagner family, but a public Foundation managed by a Board (the Stiftung), there is no other serious reason to keep Wagners at the “CEO-level” than their - demonstrated - superior capacity in keeping Bayreuth at the helm of the artistic wagnerian world.

None of the three family candidates (Eva, Nike and Kathi) can claim such qualities whatsoever. A few Richard’s chromosomes left in their blood (“...nicht fliesst mir's echt und edel...“) cannot suffice to the job!

European tender required

2007-11-06T21:00:00.000+01:00

Any main investment made by a Public Agency, or Foundation, in the EU has to be assigned via regular and formal tender, open to any bidder that demonstrates to have the prerequisites to compete.

So, why restrict the competition to 2-3 Wagner family teams?

As a taxpayer, I would hardly accept such a “mafiose” procedure!

Bizantine outcome...

2007-11-06T16:37:00.000+01:00

The Stiftungsrat complains that WW was not there.
Therefore no one can tell abut his retirement.

But nevertheless the (2, or 3, who knows?) family teams competing for the prize are warmly invited to present their vision on the future of the Festspielhaus!

Deadlines? Baldmöglichst... ?! But, my god, take your time, please...

The match is on...

2007-11-06T15:14:00.000+01:00

You think Bayreuth is what? A place for artistic deeds?
Since when have lawyers become artists?

Wagnerdämmerung in Bayreuth?

2007-11-05T23:40:00.001+01:00

Few hours left, and helle flammen could well burn WW and his whole family!

Sharks?

2007-11-05T08:28:00.000+01:00

Now Ruzicka!
The team grows and grows... Sharks are all around the Grüne Hügel!

WW kaputt? 10/3

2007-10-29T23:10:00.000+01:00

Or will something happen, on Nov. 6th ?
Betting Exchanges start making money on the issue!

Wer stört mir den Schlaf?

2007-10-28T00:42:00.000+02:00

So, nothing will happen on Nov. 6th, apparently.

WW won’t even show up at the Stiftungsrat’s meeting, and the succession issue will be downgraded to a “miscellanea” item of the agenda, together with some “street-lights repairs” and “garden cleaning” issues...

Claus Guth’s Regietheater

2007-10-16T16:33:00.001+02:00

Meistersinger première in Dresden, Oct. 14, 2007.

Just one detail: Beckmesser with bleeding genitals, at Act II end...

Katharina Wagner was sitting in the first row.

Question: to learn or to prompt?

Warum mir diese Hölle?

2007-10-10T19:49:00.001+02:00

Down with Regietheater!

Frustrations

2007-10-02T00:13:00.000+02:00

In 1976 EWP was 31 (Kathi had still to see the light...) when she was ousted from Bayreuth (however not dispossessed of her legacy) together with her brother “bad-boy” Gottfried (who in revenge writes books and hosts conferences to demonstrate that his great grandfather is to be held personally responsible for the Holocaust).

That year, besides a terrifying Ring, she got from her father another nice surprise: the divorce from her mother, followed by a new wedding with WW’s (then) secretary, Gudrun (that’s Siegfrieds Tod plot, isn’t it?). So, after two years... Fafner’s “zullendes Kind” was there. No wonder then that EWP feels uncomfortable with the “fruit of the sin” (Kathi) and excludes any possible “tandem” with her.

In 2001 the Festspiele Stiftungsrat nominated her as WW’s successor... but WW stubbornly claimed - and still does - his “Festspielleiter-for-life” status.

At 62, she feels “not yet at the helm” of her career, while Kathi has still a long way ahead and had better go back to school, if she really wants the family-toy for herself...

It’s in this charming atmosphere that Nov. 6th approaches: a good chance for the Stiftungsrat to kick the Wagners out of the Festspielhaus?

Tandems race

2007-09-29T22:51:00.001+02:00

After KW-CT, we have a new tandem ready for the GrüneHügel race: NW-EWP.
Enrollments are still open... waiting for Gottfried&Partner!?

From tandem to threesome... what's next?

2007-09-25T18:32:00.000+02:00

So: Kathi-Christian is too a "künstlerisches Paar", to be able to bear the tremendous burden of the "venal" Bayreuth!

Therefore a third - robustly down-to-earth "pecunia-non-olet" - champion is wanted as CFO of the next KW-CT corporation!

Anyone willing to apply?

Der Tod und das Mädchen

2007-09-24T08:48:00.000+02:00

Das Mädchen:
Vorüber! Ach vorüber!
Geh, wilder Knochenmann!
Ich bin noch jung, geh Lieber!
Und rühre mich nicht an.
Der Tod:
Gib deine Hand, du schön und zart Gebild!
Bin Freund und komme nicht zu strafen.
Sei gutes Muts! ich bin nicht wild,
Sollst sanft in meinen Armen schlafen!

So Christian & Kathi march out for the prize!

Clearly, the need of being flanked by a “tutor”, confirms the weakness of Kathi’s credentials for the role.

Someone in the “family” speaks right away of “power vs art”...

The other candidate strengthens her armed-forces...

Ich lieg' und besitz'

2007-09-12T13:23:00.001+02:00

So says Fafner to Alberich and Wotan in Siegfried Act II.

Is this what Wolfgang is going to say to the Stiftungsrat’s members, on November 6th?

Since the day after the Bayreuth07 closing, his name is boldly standing next to the “Gesamtleitung” writing on the Spielplan-2008 page of the Festspiele website.

2013, after all, is not so far away, and the venerable WW might be thinking of making it through... with Ring on his finger and Tarnhelm on his head.

August 30th, 2007 update

2007-09-01T22:43:00.000+02:00

This interview with Katharina Wagner gives some hints on how the issues could be addressed:

1. Despite his stupid “Festspielleiter-for-life” claim, the venerable Wolfgang will have to (or will be forced to) quit rather soon, perhaps within few weeks... (but in the meantime, with prussian timeliness, he has published the Spielplan 2008 on the Festspielhaus website, proudly confirming his Gesamtleitung for next year!) The name of his successor is far from being granted. Kathi candidly puts forward her candidacy, and this could even be seen as a very good news, given that she excludes that a Festspielleiterin can at the same time be a Regisseurin!

2. It seems that the next Ring production will indeed come to light in 2013, as any elementary prosaic consideration would suggest. Bayreuth2013 must be something that surpasses any previous anniversary, precisely as the mountain of EUR, USD, GBP, YEN, CNY that it has to move must surpass the Everest bulk.

3. Luckily or unfortunately, nothing is yet in sight on this matter. Kathi’s answer to the interviewer’s last question is dreadfully worrisome. But much could depend on the Stiftungsrat’s decision on issue #1: would the Wagner family be ousted from the Festspielhaus, then one could even start dreaming...

Der Einsame im Herbst

2007-08-04T23:49:00.000+02:00

No, this is not a post on Mahler, but on Wolfgang Wagner.

He is going to become rather sad next fall, when most likely he will be ousted as “Festspielleiter” and replaced by one of the women of his entourage.

Wolfgang has done much for Bayreuth, for the good and the bad.

But the stubbornness that he has shown in recent years is coming to a rather inglorious end: pretending of being “commander-for-life” is as stupid as considering oneself immortal.

The Festspielhaus could survive his Chéreau - and is still standing despite his puppets Schlingelsief, Dorst and Kathi - thanks to one single quality: the music emanating from its Orchestergraben!

And unless Bayreuth’s next Kaiser – or Kaiserin – hires exclusively “Regiemusik conductors” it will likely continue to stand for a while.

Post-scriptum - There’s obviously another Wagner at large: Gottfried, who could suddenly claim his rights on the family-toy. Can anyone imagine an “Inszenierung” of Parsifal by Wolfgang’s bad-boy? Could it be worse than Schlingensief’s?

Bayreuth07: over or starting now?

2007-08-03T10:21:00.000+02:00

Yesterday’s Parsifal closed the first cycle of Bayreuth07 performances: outraged boos to Schlingensief and largely positive reactions to the musical team (form Fischer to Schröder).

The total inconsistency between the staging and the musical performance is the most appalling trait of Bayreuth's present productions (MS, Ring, Parsifal).

I found Fischer's reading of Parsifal quite remarkable, while I was rather disturbed by the many "liberties" taken by Thielemann in his otherwise enthralling rendering of the Ring. Weigle did his best – which is no little – and the poor Meier, literally catapulted on the Orchestergraben’s podium by Luisi’s backache could hardly bear the burden, but he has obvious justifications and cannot do anything else than to improve.

It would be interesting to get statistical figures on the differences (plus-minus) of the performances of the various cycles given in one single season. Take the Ring: it has 3 cycles in these 4 weeks and one could try to guess which one is going to be the best… Meistersinger will be given no less than 6 times (including a closed performance) and this could help Sebastian – but especially Kathi – to do something for the sake of the “Grüne Hügel” reputation.

Bayreuth: auch Regiemusik!

2007-08-01T23:38:00.000+02:00

Against Regietheater you have an extreme defense: to close your eyes…

But you can’t do anything against Regiemusik!

(or perhaps you can: leave the theater, or switch-off the radio and… enjoy the score)

What Thielemann has perpetrated to Götterdämmerung today is really for gas-chambers (not joking!) He has literally re-written Wagner’s score, what possibly had pleased Winifred and her entourage.

It should almost be needless to explain why, but at least a couple of examples will suffice:

- the so called “Siegfried funeral-march” consists of 54 measures, with tempo indication of “Feierlich” at the beginning and no further indication whatsoever; it is by itself of patchy flow, due to the different themes that are played within: death, Wälsungen, Sieglinde, love, Sword, Siegfried-I, Siegfried-II, Brünnhilde, curse… just to name the most important ones; well, Thielemann has invented at least 4 tempo changes, and has done his worst in measure 2 of the second Siegfried-II theme exposition, where he has introduced a quaver rest after the first crotchet of the bar… simply a grotesque parody!

- the famous seven closing measures (where the so called “redemption” theme is played for the last time) begin with an “Etwas zurückhaltend” tempo indication, and without any rest notation after the preceeding bar: just no “legato signs” across them; well, as Furtwängler used to do, here an imperceptible pause can be made, just to separate the “old world” at its twilight, from something (hopefully) new, but directly emanating from it; well, here Thielemann made a crotchet rest, drastically changing the innermost significance of the piece.

Shame!

To the rescue of Kathi

2007-07-29T22:37:00.000+02:00

First of all: I am not a fan of Regietheater: I firmly believe that it is 1% ignorance and 99% exibitionism.

But the case of Kathi is slightly different: perhaps her mix is 30% smartness and 70% exhibitionism (and this was perhaps also the ratio applause/boos after her debut).

Now let me summarize my personal “vision” of the MS drama. To me:

- Walther is apparently a revolutionary (he just wants Eva); to have Eva, he is forced to do something he doesn’t know: he does it with a foolish-naïve (pseudo-revolutionary) approach and fails, but catches the interest of the progressive part of the establishment (Sachs, while Beckmesser represents initially the thick-headed part of that same establishment);
- Sachs sees in Walther a mean to revive the Meister art, to get it closer to the people; he understands (“Fliederbaum monologue”) that pure natural love is at the core of Stolzing’s behaviour and helps him, teaching him how to exploit the rules to get his target;
- Walther compromises with the establishment and the rules, so he gets what he wants (Eva and, almost unwillingly, good-life and reputation);
- Beckmesser realizes that knowing the rules does not make you an artist, so he tries to express himself artistically, going beyond the rules, and so fails;
- Sachs is the final winner: he is crowned as chief of the Meister, having at the same time rescued a moribund art.

Now, in an interview Katharina has explained her konzept (i.e. her understanding of the drama) and I found it quite close to the above description: therefore I tend to largely agree with her ideas.

Unfortunately, the 70% of exhibitionism that still makes up the large part of Kathi’s personality has taken the lead. Conclusion? She talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk!

Now, since it looks inevitable that she’s going – perhaps in a few weeks - to take the place of his father Wolfgang, everyone who can have an influence – even the slightest one, like we do in these blogs – on her, must do the possible in order to get, at least, a 50-50 ratio of smartness-exibitionism in her behaviour.

Otherwise, Bayreuth might end up “in Klingsor’s hands”… e.g. bought by some gulf-sheikh-alberich who finds no other way of dissipating the fortune we-the-nibelungen everyday amass for him at the gas stations.

Rheingold: a still-not-convincing Thielemann

2007-07-27T23:32:00.000+02:00

Hope to be wrong, but the (still) young Christian seems to be regressing, rather than progressing. He looks to me like someone that thinks or feel to be “arrived” (and the podium of the Orchestergraben can quite give this giddiness… even Giuseppe Sinopoli catched this syndrome!). Too many unjustified liberties in the tempi, and always pushing the “emphatic” side, which really disturbs.

Examples? Just a couple, towards the end: we must remember that the last tempo indication that Wagner put on the score is a “Mässig bewegt” exactly at the beginning of the first “rainbow-bridge” exposition; from this point on, no other tempo indication is given. Now:

- at the “sword” theme’s first entrance there is simply a change from ¾ to C, and this suffices to get a dilation of the musical phrase; but Thielemann introduces for free an own “rallentando”, which transforms this sublime piece into a parody, simply grotesque!
- a similar “rallentando” is arbitrarily introduced by Thielemann at the beginning of the final “rainbow-bridge” exposition, which gives to his Rheingold's closing a quite disturbing “Nazi” shape.

Bayreuth07 opening: Die “alte-neue” Meistersinger

2007-07-26T10:59:00.001+02:00

So: Katharina made it through! (or didn’t she?)

She grasped the core of her ur-Großvater’s konzept (artistic & mundane): after an upsetting “revolutionary” approach, to create a new world in music and drama without disrupting the good-old world of the Fathers, and so to gain reputation and good-life for himself.

This is by the way what Meistersinger is all about!

Here she tells her “vision”.

And indeed, Hans Sachs explains that concept - in the third scene of Act II - with words and sounds that go straight to the point (and to the heart):

Und doch, 's will halt nicht geh'n:

Ich fühl's und kann's nicht versteh'n: -

kann's nicht behalten, - doch auch nicht vergessen:

und fass' ich es ganz, kann ich's nicht messen!

Doch wie wollt' ich auch fassen,

was unermesslich mir schien?

Kein' Regel wollte da passen,

und war doch kein Fehler drin.

Es klang so alt und war doch so neu,

wie Vogelsang im süssen Mai!

Wer ihn hört,

und wahnbetört

sänge dem Vogel nach,

dem brächt' es Spott und Schmach:

Lenzes Gebot,

die süsse Not,

die legt' es ihm in die Brust:

nun sang er, wie er musst',

und wie er musst', so konnt' er's, -

das merkt' ich ganz besonders.

Dem Vogel, der heute sang,

dem war der Schnabel bald gewachsen;

macht' er den Meistern bang,

gar wohl gefiel er doch Hans Sachsen!

Kathy’s setting can be questioned, but – at least from these shots and from the “less-than-expected” boohs – doesn’t look that ”trashy“...