Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Bayreuth

Next, we drove, in rain, to Bayreuth, in northeastern-most Bavaria, a fairly provincial place, but now the world's capital of opera, German opera, anyway, where the annual (since 1876) Bayreuth Festival was underway. Tickets to the Festival are unobtainable. Although it goes on for a month, and the festival theatre seats 1,800, they are the toughest ticket around. Germans love to tell stories of their being handed down in wills.

Ground-zero Bayreuth







Wilhelmina's Opera Theatre--she was Frederick the Great's
sister, married off to Bavaria, to which, in Bayreuth at least,
she brought culture; very baroque, very royal, completely
contrary to Wagner's aesthetics (and politics), so he had L
ooney Ludwig build him a completely new festival theater
(next post)








Famous fountain near ground-zero






The whole town, even scaffolding, is decked out in Wagner
paraphrenalia (here also Wilhelmina, Jean-Paul, Wagner,
and Lizst)











Siemens sponsored productions of The Valkyrie and a
childrens' version of Tannhauser









All the local stores sport Wagner stuff










The Holy Family in the Mont Blanc store
window












Even the imbiss










Or are named for Wagner, his operas, or
their characters












Well, not all the stores





Wagner display in one of the bookstores

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