Three Music Festivals: Bayreuth, Munich, and Bregenz

Loney, Glenn, Western European Stages

German and even Austrian newspapers were teeming with large photos of immense black rats that surrounded powerless and hapless Elsa von Brabant. Even her nameless savior Lohengrin is buffeted about by ranks of black and even some white rats. Some opera critics suggested that these costumes and the entire production concept of director Hans Neuenfels might have been more appropriate to a show about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I didn't see the premiere, so I missed the boos that Neuenfels harvested. At Bayreuth, the director and designers usually leave town as soon as possible after the opening - unless they were or are Wagners. Nonetheless, once I visually acclimated myself to the idea of …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Three Music Festivals: Bayreuth, Munich, and Bregenz. Contributors: Loney, Glenn - Author. Journal title: Western European Stages. Volume: 23. Issue: 1 Publication date: Winter 2011. Page number: 51+. © Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Fall 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.