The Festspielhaus before the crowds arrive
  2005 marked my fourth pilgrimage to the grünen Hügel.  This year I saw Keith Warner's production of Lohengrin, a production I had seen twice before, and thoroughly enjoyed.  This was the last year it would be presented.  I was swept away by Philippe Arland's Tannhäuser.  This opera is always a great showcase for the Bayreuth Chorus.Christoph Marthaler's Tristan und Isolde was forgettable.  Drab and tawdry.  Then there was a reprehensible Fliegende Holländer concocted by Claus Guth, in which the story had been rewritten to add an undercurrent of incest between Senta and her father, Daland, and eliminating the redemption of the Dutchman.  This left me wondering just what kind of childhood Guth had had.  Finally there was the Christoph Schlingenslief Parsifal, a production which had all of Bayreuth hopping. Rabbits rabbits, rabbits, dead, alive, decomposing, stuffed toys and projected images.  This was performed on a very busy rotating stage with various still and video images projected on screens.  One description of it was 'performance art.'  It reminded me of Quantum Mechanics - none of it makes sense the first time through.  I hope I will get another chance to experience this Parsifal.
 
Ok, I admit it.  Only a Wagnerian would care about most of the images below.  Click on a thumbnail for a larger view.


   I procrastinated a bit in making my reservations, so I ended up staying in a small town outside of Bayreuth at a wonderful little Brauerei-Gasthof run by the Schnupp family.  [The Brauerei part was very nice, and I am planning to say there again in 2006 when I see the new Ring.]  This forced me to do something which I had never done --despite my many trips to Germany -- rent a car. [Rick, it was blue.]  Let's just say, cars and I do not get along, especially with an italian manual.  Returning to the car at night for the first time, I realized I had no idea how to turn on the lights.  It took 15 minutes of pushing every damn button in the thing to find it.  These there was figuring out how to open the gas tank. Ich hasse Autos.  

Before the start of
Tristan und Isolde
  
             
 © 2005, 2006 B. Kevin Edgar