At last, a pilgrimage to Bayreuth: Parsifal and Lohengrin, part 2
Part 2
Now, at last, the two operas I saw on consecutive nights. After years of the Festival presenting the operas as faithful re-creations of Wagner's own designs and stage directions, directors with creative vision or poor taste have dominated since the festival reopened in 1951, an attempt to bring new views to Bayreuth and distance it from its German cult-worship and Hitler-worshiping past. Hitler loved Wagnerian opera and was chums with Wagner's daughter, who defended her old pal even after the war, and the first night I sat right in front of what had been Hitler's private box. The two performances I saw both had radical director conceptions. Lohengrin is normally a pretty conventional drama about a shining knight of the Grail who comes to old Germany to save the maid Elsa from calumny, and save the Germans from their rigid conservative tradition (Modestly, Wagner also saw himself as this savior of German culture). In the current production, Lohengrin is here to disrupt an experiment in which the conservative townspeople-as-submissive-rats (chorus, all wearing rat heads and cute tails) have apparently eaten part of the King's brain, then are bred and are slowing becoming more human (they sometimes take off their rat suits and don striking human garb such as brilliant yellow tuxedos). All this is depicted with some graphically scientific animated film, costumed lab technicians giving injections on stage, etc. The rats are wonderful, including some cute pink baby rats that process in the famous bridal march (aka Here Comes the Bride), which you can see in the photo. One of the kiddie rats gets lost in the procession and has to be guided to the correct position. On the other hand, the traditional King has seen better days, as the rats' eating his brain causes him to lurch about the stage with a crazed expression, as if he lacks his cerebellum or forebrain. Overall a cool and effective production that makes you rethink the opera, much like some good Shakespeare productions do (e.g see the amazing Patrick Stewart Macbeth on video, set in totalitarian USSR). The only thing that was too bizarre for me was the ending. Instead of the Wagner ending of the swan transforming into the lost brother of Elsa, who then saves society, a big swan egg hatches a wierd pseudo-human giant fetus, who tears up its umbilical cord (biology malaprop...a fetus coming out of a giant swan egg!!?) and casts the pieces around the viewers like rice at a wedding. Human salvation is a little strange in this version...a bit creepy, and not really in tune with the clever and warm concept of the rest.
Parsifal, a 4.5 hour opera, was also compelling. This story, again of a semi-autobiographical Grail knight-Wagner alter-ego saving society, has been performed as a "holy" Christian rite for much of its history. For many years no applause from the traditional German audiences was tolerated, and Teutons delighted in berating clueless Americans at Bayreuth who dared applaud rather than silently filing out at the end of the 6 hours. These days, applauding and stamping is quite encouraged. Good to know WW2 accomplished something. This time, the director's concept was to present German history from 1876-now, with Parsifal serving to transform the Germans from Master Race bullies into members of a peaceful multicultural world. So the Grail knights, in their long musically glorious-but-relentless processions, are here not in traditional armor, but are in the first act WWI soldiers going to battle and later, in act 3, modern members of the Bundestag (German legislature). Amusing to see them singing text about the grail, Last Supper, etc while debating in modern suits from parliament. There was one really chilling sequence where Parsifal catches a spear thrown by a Hitler youth (surrounded by storm troopers, terrorized Jews, and Nazi banners) and uses the spear to destroy both the Nazis and all of Germany, leading to its rebirth in act 3. Given all the Festivals conservatism and Nazi past, this may have been the first appearance of swastikas in Bayreuth since Hitler attended the festival in 1939. Finally, a lovely ending where the temple of the Grail becomes an extension of the auditorium and an enormous reflecting mirror shows that audience that we (and Germany) all are the new knights of the Grail, hopefully destined to transform society into an inclusive better place. At the end the mirror itself transforms into a giant rotating globe, with multicultural family standing below. This did not come across as hokey to cynical me, and superimposed on Wagner's transforming music, I got quite caught up in all this and was choked up at the end. Music drama indeed! I think Wagner, while perhaps perplexed at the absence of his knights and armor, and likely scornful of multiculturalism, would have been pleased at the drama.
Was it worth the money and trouble? Yes! I now have in my head the same sound Wagner intended, and really get the "total drama" concept he advocated. The venue was critical to this, as was the absence of distractions, the acoustical balance, and the thought provoking productions that make you concentrate from start to finish, six hours later. In a fast food and short attention span world, this was, for me, energizing and a link to the musical past. Even if I did use my IPad to read the translations.
Now, at last, the two operas I saw on consecutive nights. After years of the Festival presenting the operas as faithful re-creations of Wagner's own designs and stage directions, directors with creative vision or poor taste have dominated since the festival reopened in 1951, an attempt to bring new views to Bayreuth and distance it from its German cult-worship and Hitler-worshiping past. Hitler loved Wagnerian opera and was chums with Wagner's daughter, who defended her old pal even after the war, and the first night I sat right in front of what had been Hitler's private box. The two performances I saw both had radical director conceptions. Lohengrin is normally a pretty conventional drama about a shining knight of the Grail who comes to old Germany to save the maid Elsa from calumny, and save the Germans from their rigid conservative tradition (Modestly, Wagner also saw himself as this savior of German culture). In the current production, Lohengrin is here to disrupt an experiment in which the conservative townspeople-as-submissive-rats (chorus, all wearing rat heads and cute tails) have apparently eaten part of the King's brain, then are bred and are slowing becoming more human (they sometimes take off their rat suits and don striking human garb such as brilliant yellow tuxedos). All this is depicted with some graphically scientific animated film, costumed lab technicians giving injections on stage, etc. The rats are wonderful, including some cute pink baby rats that process in the famous bridal march (aka Here Comes the Bride), which you can see in the photo. One of the kiddie rats gets lost in the procession and has to be guided to the correct position. On the other hand, the traditional King has seen better days, as the rats' eating his brain causes him to lurch about the stage with a crazed expression, as if he lacks his cerebellum or forebrain. Overall a cool and effective production that makes you rethink the opera, much like some good Shakespeare productions do (e.g see the amazing Patrick Stewart Macbeth on video, set in totalitarian USSR). The only thing that was too bizarre for me was the ending. Instead of the Wagner ending of the swan transforming into the lost brother of Elsa, who then saves society, a big swan egg hatches a wierd pseudo-human giant fetus, who tears up its umbilical cord (biology malaprop...a fetus coming out of a giant swan egg!!?) and casts the pieces around the viewers like rice at a wedding. Human salvation is a little strange in this version...a bit creepy, and not really in tune with the clever and warm concept of the rest.
Parsifal, a 4.5 hour opera, was also compelling. This story, again of a semi-autobiographical Grail knight-Wagner alter-ego saving society, has been performed as a "holy" Christian rite for much of its history. For many years no applause from the traditional German audiences was tolerated, and Teutons delighted in berating clueless Americans at Bayreuth who dared applaud rather than silently filing out at the end of the 6 hours. These days, applauding and stamping is quite encouraged. Good to know WW2 accomplished something. This time, the director's concept was to present German history from 1876-now, with Parsifal serving to transform the Germans from Master Race bullies into members of a peaceful multicultural world. So the Grail knights, in their long musically glorious-but-relentless processions, are here not in traditional armor, but are in the first act WWI soldiers going to battle and later, in act 3, modern members of the Bundestag (German legislature). Amusing to see them singing text about the grail, Last Supper, etc while debating in modern suits from parliament. There was one really chilling sequence where Parsifal catches a spear thrown by a Hitler youth (surrounded by storm troopers, terrorized Jews, and Nazi banners) and uses the spear to destroy both the Nazis and all of Germany, leading to its rebirth in act 3. Given all the Festivals conservatism and Nazi past, this may have been the first appearance of swastikas in Bayreuth since Hitler attended the festival in 1939. Finally, a lovely ending where the temple of the Grail becomes an extension of the auditorium and an enormous reflecting mirror shows that audience that we (and Germany) all are the new knights of the Grail, hopefully destined to transform society into an inclusive better place. At the end the mirror itself transforms into a giant rotating globe, with multicultural family standing below. This did not come across as hokey to cynical me, and superimposed on Wagner's transforming music, I got quite caught up in all this and was choked up at the end. Music drama indeed! I think Wagner, while perhaps perplexed at the absence of his knights and armor, and likely scornful of multiculturalism, would have been pleased at the drama.
Was it worth the money and trouble? Yes! I now have in my head the same sound Wagner intended, and really get the "total drama" concept he advocated. The venue was critical to this, as was the absence of distractions, the acoustical balance, and the thought provoking productions that make you concentrate from start to finish, six hours later. In a fast food and short attention span world, this was, for me, energizing and a link to the musical past. Even if I did use my IPad to read the translations.
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