Day: 6 August 2024
A refreshingly intelligent and entertaining Tannhäuser.
Bayreuth Festival. ***** This is proof that imaginative staging and interpretation that retains the spirit and intention of an opera can defy what at first seems a strange and even blasphemous offering of Tannhäuser. Director Tobias Kratzer and his creative team merge actual performance on the Bayreuth stage with live backstage video and pre-recordings, taking…
A Tristan und Isolde death cult, Bayreuth Festival
*** It was supposed to be the highlight of the 2024 season, yet such was the flatness of the production and question marks over the performance of Tristan it was eclipsed by the revival of Tannhäuser which was not even originally scheduled to be staged this year. I am sure I am not alone in…