Wagner's Valhalla

Started by Greta, April 07, 2007, 08:09:57 PM

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Renfield

Quote from: Jezetha on July 27, 2008, 05:51:05 AM
I saw your post. But I don't, unfortunately, have the time to listen along with you... But let not that dampen your enthusiasm!

Likewise.

uffeviking

Hurrah! Two replies! Thank you!  :-*  :-*

Maybe a better time when the rebroadcasts are on?

http://www.operacast.com/bayreuth08.htm

(poco) Sforzando

"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

marvinbrown

#683

Wagner fans I don't believe we have discussed this subject in detail:

How many of you have been here:



  If you have been here what performances did you see? Who were the conductor and singers? When did you go? How were the acoustics, how was the production? How did you get your tickets? Was it a long wait? Are the seats comfortable?  Also what else happens at the festival outside of the performances?

  It is my dream to go to Bayreuth  0:) and to see the Ring performed in its entirety and then to catch a performance of Tristan und Isolde  0:).  That's going to be an item on my bucket list  ;)?

  marvin



 

Renfield

Lovely house, Marvin. Is it yours? ;D ;)



(I'm kidding. And of course, no, I have not been to Bayreuth; let alone in there! :))

uffeviking

I haven't been there either! And because I strongly dislike uncomfortable wooden furniture to sit on during a Wagner opera, I don't think I'll even try for a ticket.  :D

But I can give you some second hand snippets. A friend, American expatriot who lived in Bayreuth and taught at the local university told me some of his experiences. Like: would you believe he never had a problem getting a ticket? No, he never applied for one, all he did was to put on his tux, walked up to The Hill with a sign asking for a ticket and he always got one, most of the time even free! Then there were times when he was in hurry, wore his jeans and sport shirt, but stuck his tux and shirt in a bag, made his trip up The Hill, got a ticket from someone who had a spare, went to the men's room, changed his attire, put the jeans in the bag and left it with the Garderobenfrau - something like a hat check girl - who by now already knew him, and he enjoyed the opera. Only once did he get a ticket but did not have his tux with him and he had to walk the gauntlet to his seat, followed by hostile stares and hisses: "How dare he, in jeans???"

Marvin, my best advise: Buy yourself a tux and nice ruffled shirt! Good Luck!  :-*

Renfield

Quote from: uffeviking on July 29, 2008, 03:07:41 PM
Only once did he get a ticket but did not have his tux with him and he had to walk the gauntlet to his seat, followed by hostile stares and hisses: "How dare he, in jeans???"

Wagner forbid! :P


Besides the joke, I'm pleasantly surprised that he was allowed to attend in jeans. I'd have expected a dress code to be in place.

PerfectWagnerite

Quote from: uffeviking on July 29, 2008, 03:07:41 PM
I haven't been there either! And because I strongly dislike uncomfortable wooden furniture to sit on during a Wagner opera, I don't think I'll even try for a ticket.  :D

But I can give you some second hand snippets. A friend, American expatriot who lived in Bayreuth and taught at the local university told me some of his experiences. Like: would you believe he never had a problem getting a ticket? No, he never applied for one, all he did was to put on his tux, walked up to The Hill with a sign asking for a ticket and he always got one, most of the time even free! Then there were times when he was in hurry, wore his jeans and sport shirt, but stuck his tux and shirt in a bag, made his trip up The Hill, got a ticket from someone who had a spare, went to the men's room, changed his attire, put the jeans in the bag and left it with the Garderobenfrau - something like a hat check girl - who by now already knew him, and he enjoyed the opera. Only once did he get a ticket but did not have his tux with him and he had to walk the gauntlet to his seat, followed by hostile stares and hisses: "How dare he, in jeans???"

If you believe in that I got beachfront property that I'll sell you for cheap.

marvinbrown

Quote from: Renfield on July 29, 2008, 02:38:55 PM
Lovely house, Marvin. Is it yours? ;D ;)



(I'm kidding. And of course, no, I have not been to Bayreuth; let alone in there! :))

  Oh yeah that's my humble abode  ;D!

  marvin

marvinbrown

Quote from: uffeviking on July 29, 2008, 03:07:41 PM
I haven't been there either! And because I strongly dislike uncomfortable wooden furniture to sit on during a Wagner opera, I don't think I'll even try for a ticket.  :D

But I can give you some second hand snippets. A friend, American expatriot who lived in Bayreuth and taught at the local university told me some of his experiences. Like: would you believe he never had a problem getting a ticket? No, he never applied for one, all he did was to put on his tux, walked up to The Hill with a sign asking for a ticket and he always got one, most of the time even free! Then there were times when he was in hurry, wore his jeans and sport shirt, but stuck his tux and shirt in a bag, made his trip up The Hill, got a ticket from someone who had a spare, went to the men's room, changed his attire, put the jeans in the bag and left it with the Garderobenfrau - something like a hat check girl - who by now already knew him, and he enjoyed the opera. Only once did he get a ticket but did not have his tux with him and he had to walk the gauntlet to his seat, followed by hostile stares and hisses: "How dare he, in jeans???"

Marvin, my best advise: Buy yourself a tux and nice ruffled shirt! Good Luck!  :-*

  Lis I already have a tux that's been sitting in my closet gathering dust and moths and what have you.  I guess now would be the time to pull it out and get it cleaned!!  Seeing as how you live in Germany and are a Wagnerian I was surprised that you had never been to Bayreuth  :o!!  But then again I guess if the seats are uncomfortable wooden furniture one might be tempted to stay away.  Incidentally can't one bring a pillow or a cushion to sit on??, or would that also get a hiss from the audience??

  PS:  So Lis, Renfield and PerfectWagnerite have not been to Bayreuth- I guess that leaves Sarge  8), yes I I'll bet he's been there! I also wonder if  Jezetha  8) has been to Bayreuth?? Other than that I can not think of any other Wagner fans GMG members who would have made the journey??  ??? Greta maybe??  I guess I'll have to be the first then!

  marvin

PerfectWagnerite

Quote from: marvinbrown on July 29, 2008, 04:37:50 PM
   PS:  So Lis, Renfield and PerfectWagnerite have not been to Bayreuth- I guess that leaves Sarge  8), yes I I'll bet he's been there! I also wonder if  Jezetha  8) has been to Bayreuth?? Other than that I can not think of any other Wagner fans GMG members who would have made the journey??  ??? Greta maybe??  I guess I'll have to be the first then!

Not for nothing but I think I'd rather go to the MET. Call me a homer but I would rather enjoy Wagner in the comfort of my home town only 20 minutes from my house. It's not like the singing, staging and conducting at Bayreuth is better than the MET.

PSmith08

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on July 29, 2008, 04:49:55 PM
Not for nothing but I think I'd rather go to the MET. Call me a homer but I would rather enjoy Wagner in the comfort of my home town only 20 minutes from my house. It's not like the singing, staging and conducting at Bayreuth is better than the MET.

While live performance and I don't get along very well, for various reasons, I follow you: I'd rather go to Chicago to catch something, which is three or so hours away than run all the way to Germany. The dollar floundering as it is, I'm not sure I'd want to see the bill for room and board. Also, I don't know that I'd really want to sit through some of the productions of recent years.

Still, I wouldn't mind going to Bayreuth for Parsifal, but that has more to do with sentiment than the realities of modern Wagnerian performance on the Green Hill.

marvinbrown

Quote from: PSmith08 on July 29, 2008, 05:23:49 PM


Still, I wouldn't mind going to Bayreuth for Parsifal, but that has more to do with sentiment than the realities of modern Wagnerian performance on the Green Hill.

  Yes Parsifal is the opera that often comes to mind when considering a trip to Bayreuth as Wagner wanted it to be performed there and ONLY there!  However and as much as I value the opera houses here in London I would imagine that Bayreuth is special in its own way, very special! If only for its historical significance, ambiance etc.. I am also very curious as to what happens at the festival, after all this is a festival.  Aren't there special musical and entertainment events that are hosted outside of performance hours??

  The other thing that has intrigued me is the long waitlist to get tickets to Bayreuth.  I have heard of ridiculous 8-10 years waitlist periods, kind of like a lottery system built on seniority.  How exactly this works I do not know but it is very intriguing that so many people want to go on this long journey to Germany from all over the world,  notwithstanding cost of course.

  marvin

     

Sergeant Rock

#693
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 29, 2008, 04:37:50 PM
  PS:  So Lis, Renfield and PerfectWagnerite have not been to Bayreuth- I guess that leaves Sarge  8), yes I I'll bet he's been there!

I've been to the city of Bayreuth (made the pilgrimmage shortly after I moved to Germany in 1974) but have never attended a performance at the festival. In my youth, when I was an ardent Wagnerite, up for anything, I wanted to see the Ring at Bayreuth but the waiting period between applying for tickets and actually getting the tickets was around eight years. Being in the army, there was no way to plan that far ahead. By the time I retired I'd lost the desire. The thought of spending four to six hours sweating in a tux, enduring the heat of summer, sitting on a hard, uncomfortable chair just isn't appealing. Still, I continue to think about going, not to see a Ring but a Holländer...the shortest opera ;D 

I know there are ways to get tickets sooner. Tickets are still available for this year but you'll pay 1000 to 1500 Euro! That's another reason I don't ever see myself sitting in the Bayreuther Festspielhaus.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: marvinbrown on July 29, 2008, 04:37:50 PMI also wonder if  Jezetha  8) has been to Bayreuth??

Alas, no. If I were a tone-deaf German politician and/or celebrity it would have been a piece of cake with no waiting-list in sight... My cousin, though, has seen the Festspielhaus with his own eyes, when he was on holiday in Germany... I still have the postcard he sent me.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Wanderer

Quote from: Renfield on July 29, 2008, 03:11:51 PM
I'd have expected a dress code to be in place.

I have visited Germany thrice, but have never been in Bayreuth. As things stand, I don't think I'd be much interested in enduring all the required trouble for a potentially uncomfortable semi-religious Wagnerian operatic experience. I would exclude it altogether were there a mandatory dress code. I feel strongly against these things.  $:)

My next trip to Austria - Bavaria (whenever that will be) will probably include a visit to Bayreuth. If I were to attend a performance, I'd opt for either Die Walküre or Lohengrin.

uffeviking

Quote from: marvinbrown on July 29, 2008, 04:37:50 PM
   Incidentally can't one bring a pillow or a cushion to sit on??, or would that also get a hiss from the audience??

  marvin

Um Gotteswillen! I believe it's not de rigueur to carry a soft object into the hallowed auditorium, unless it's the natural part of body. Evidently leaving the opera with a sore arse is like a badge of honour. My friend is fortunate in that he resembles an aged Ernest Hemingway!  ;D

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on July 29, 2008, 04:49:55 PM
Not for nothing but I think I'd rather go to the MET. Call me a homer but I would rather enjoy Wagner in the comfort of my home town only 20 minutes from my house. It's not like the singing, staging and conducting at Bayreuth is better than the MET.

Well, now that you can occasionally find someone more lively than Mr. Levine on the podium for the major Wagnerian operas, quite true. (I will wickedly admit that I was secretly relieved he was laid up by a shoulder injury a couple of years ago when I paid an outrageous price to treat a friend to Parsifal in row C of the orchestra section. Peter Schneider was an excellent conductor that night, and I dressed comfortably as well.)

I haven't been to Bayreuth, but I've seen Wagner's house near Lucerne (Tribschen), the place where the Siegfried Idyll was premiered and the Meistersinger composed. That atmosphere was reverent enough, as I described in another post on this thread. But in regards to Bayreuth, I defer to Stravinsky's autobiography:

QuoteThe very atmosphere of the theatre, its design and its setting, seemed lugubrious. It was like a crematorium, and a very old-fashioned one at that, and one expected to see the gentleman in black who had been entrusted with the task of singing the praises of the departed. The order to devote oneself to contemplation was given by a blast of trumpets. I sat humble and motionless, but at the end of a quarter of an hour I could bear no more. My limbs were numb and I had to change my position. Crack! Now I had done it! My chair had made a noise which drew down on me the furious scowls of a hundred pairs of eyes. Once more I withdrew into myself, but I could think of only one thing, and that was the end of the act which would put and end to my martyrdom. At last the intermission arrived, and I was rewarded by two sausages and a glass of beer. But hardly had I had time to light a cigarette when the trumpet blast sounded again, demanding another period of contemplation. Another act to be got through, when all my thoughts were concentrated on my cigarette, of which I had had barely a whiff. I managed to bear the second act. Then there were more sausages, more beer, another trumpet blast, another period of contemplation, another act -- finis!"
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: Wanderer on July 30, 2008, 06:27:31 AM
I have visited Germany thrice, but have never been in Bayreuth. As things stand, I don't think I'd be much interested in enduring all the required trouble for a potentially uncomfortable semi-religious Wagnerian operatic experience. I would exclude it altogether were there a mandatory dress code. I feel strongly against these things.  $:)

My next trip to Austria - Bavaria (whenever that will be) will probably include a visit to Bayreuth. If I were to attend a performance, I'd opt for either Die Walküre or Lohengrin.

If you can get tickets. There's usually a 10-year wait, with no guarantee.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Wanderer

Quote from: Sforzando on July 30, 2008, 08:05:34 AM
If you can get tickets. There's usually a 10-year wait, with no guarantee.

I'm well aware of that, hence the rather cryptic yet all inclusive "required trouble" in my previous post.