Nicht Gut
[Note: This post has been updated (1) as of 11:45 AM Eastern on 12 Aug. See below.]
The following appeared on an opera forum to which I on occasion contribute. It was posted early this morning by a longtime and compulsive operagoer; a Bayreuther Festspiele freak and expat American who's been resident in Germany for some years now.
Came back to Bayreuth earlier this week on a lark and immediately got a ticket to the third performance of "Die Meistersinger"- only ten people in the line; I was number 7 and paid 28,50 Euro [USD39.00].Yesterday morning I got the complete "Ring" - cycle II and have "Die Walküre" in an hour or so. It has never been so easy!
This sort of thing is almost unheard of, and bodes nothing but ill for the future of the Festspiele.
Update (11:45 AM Eastern on 12 Aug): Apropos the above, the following was just posted to the Opera-L eMail list. It's the closing graf of a firsthand report on Katharina Wagner's new Bayreuther Festspiele production of Die Meistersinger which report can be read in full here.
Notices had been placed around the Festspielhaus saying that "due to the unusual nature of the staging there will be no curtain calls after Acts 1 and 2". This was nonsense, and just a ploy to avoid the audience booing until the end! At the conclusion, the booing was overwhelming when Katherina Wagner and her 'team' appeared and it continued for some time. Unlike earlier performances, the Sachs (Franz Hawlata) received a good reception, but Eva (Amanda Mace) was soundly booed (I can’t see her being invited back unless she can manage to sing in tune), as was the conductor (Sebastian Weigle) - a little unfairly I thought. Walther (Klaus Florian Vogt) received a rapturous reception – well deserved. We heard that many people had returned their tickets to the box office, and although the Festspielhaus seemed full we did see a few people leaving after the second act. If Katherina Wagner does become the heir to Bayreuth, tickets may be easier to obtain! [emphasis added]
