Bavaria (Germany)

...find the northern region of Bavaria as part of your visit to Germany, do make a stop at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, but avoid it during the festival season in the summer. It is truly the only opera house of its kind in the world, and possesses much history, musical and otherwise. Guided tours are scheduled at specific times in the day (see link below), and entry for each person is 10 euros.

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PICTURES!

...go here:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4752534_DfbQq/1/202095973_xqqMv

Note: The Ciao entry form obliged me to choose from the drop-down menus for Nightlife, Shopping, Ease of getting around and Family-friendliness, all of which do not really apply in this review (we had rented a car to get around, did not sample the nightlife or shopping opportunities, didn't have children aboard), so I settled for an Average rating ... more

Opera fans, especially Richard Wagner opera fans, all know about that famous, pink brick building called the Bayreuther Festspielhaus (Bayreuth Festival House) that is set majestically and imposingly upon the Green Hill, located just north of the actual town of Bayreuth. Having just morphed into an opera lover a few months before, I'd expressed a strong interest in visiting the House during our visit to Germany last year, even if I held no abiding interest in Wagner's works at the time. (But thanks to the New York Met Opera's live High-Definition broadcast of Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde' last month, I've since come around to loving the man's music to pieces!)

The Bayreuth summer opera festival having just closed the month before, the Festspielhaus grounds were practically empty (save for a few other stragglers) on that perfectly lovely September afternoon when we visited. We had an intriguing sight, too: we spied a woman in a black flowing gown and a fuschia shawl wrapped around her arms striking a dramatic pose next to a column at the building's entrance - making us wonder if she was an opera singer-in-training or something who was imagining herself inside the Festspielhaus belting out a big aria or two from 'Tristan und Isolde'!

Well, thanks to the very friendly, English-speaking fellow running the souvenir shop across the street, we learned of a guided tour of the opera house that was a regular event off-season. Soon enough, a small group of tourists emerged from the side of the building, and another group was slowly forming outside the door. We joined the new group at the door, each clutching our 10 euros for the entrance fee.

The Bayreuther Festspielhaus

The Bayreuther Festspielhaus is the famous house where only Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) operas are performed in the annual summer festival still run by descendants of the composer himself. As you approach the Festspielhaus itself, a large, colourful star-shaped bed of lavender, blue and red flowers greets you amid the tended lawn as you take the smooth, gently rising road that leads onto the premises.

Alas, photography inside the opera house was disallowed, so what I write here are mere recollections of our visit (but check out link I posted below to view a small set of photographs taken that afternoon.)

The Bayreuther Festspielhaus first opened its doors in 1876, and the annual summer festival is now held between July 25 and August 28. The uniqueness of the house lies in its being constructed entirely according to the composer's strict specifications, and was built solely for performances of Wagner's handful of gigantic operatic works. Notwithstanding much evidence attesting to Wagner's rather unpleasant personality and the man's assuredly large ego, he also had a sizeable talent and genius to match.

Auditorium

The interior seemed rather dim, which I thought was probably an energy-conserving measure (we are still unused to such things in the oft-times profligate US of A). Today, after modifications done to the theatre over many decades, there are nearly 2,000 seats in the amphitheatre-like auditorium (compared to New York Metropolitan Opera House's nearly 4,000 seating capacity). The curved rows of seats rise steeply towards the back. The absence of balcony or box seats results in a more restricted capacity than in the usual opera venue. Wagner wanted everyone in the theatre to have the same experience as everyone else here - an admirably democratic rule that seems to clash with his otherwise autocratic personality. I suppose the quality of the music reigned supreme in his concerns, and simplicity of design was the order of the day.

The ceiling décor recalls the art deco style, with simple geometric designs done in an odd combination of cerulean blue and brown or gold ropes and borders. Walls are plain creamy-white. Square pillars project from the side and back walls. Globes of light hang from wrought iron brackets on the pillars.

Now, how people can sit in these for hours on end baffles me: the armless, hinged wooden seats lack upholstery save for a layer of green corduroy material in a few front rows, so unlike the thickly cushioned seating that pampers behinds in many other opera venues. The bare wooden floor was also per Wagner's specifications, again to enhance the house acoustics.

There's a unique stage curtain that is set down when no performances are afoot. It's made of several sheets of iron bolted together to make one big, solid sheet. Early on, our guide went behind the curtain and banged on it, creating a gong-like crash, the vibration of the metal lingering several seconds after the blow.

Amid his telling of the history of the opera house and its design, our guide then ran up the centre steps and took a position at the farthest corner from our group and began speaking. It was unbelievable - even at such a long distance every word he spoke carried over to us with such clarity and resonance, and he hadn't even bothered to raise his voice. In an instant, he showed the solid and clear acoustics of the place that the demanding Wagner made sure was achieved in the Festspielhaus. Besides the wooden seats and floor, the presence of the steel curtain surely helps in that regard, just as the structural iron incorporated into the Isaac Stern Auditorium at New York City's Carnegie Hall (made by the Andrew Carnegie-owned foundry in Pittsburgh, PA) makes it one of the most perfectly acoustical musical venues to be found anywhere in the world.

For comfort-conscious Americans, there isn't any air-conditioning in the theatre, so I don't know how cosy and pleasant it would be in the heat of summer, when the festival takes place.

Oh, one more unique thing about the Bayreuth opera house: the audience here cannot see the orchestra, which is hidden behind a black hood. Wagner wanted viewers to focus entirely on the events occurring onstage, without the distraction of a conductor waving his arms about and musicians bowing away.

Orchestra Pit

This looked like the smallest orchestra pit ever, seeming to be just half the size of, say, the Met Orchestra pit, and its rear section is recessed beneath the stage. There's a gap between the front end of the stage and the hood. Looking audience-ward from inside the pit, one spies an old, battered, wooden chair that seems permanently set in place at front centre: the humble chair is the conductor's seat, raised higher than the musicians. Many famous conductors have been known to come to work clad only in shorts and a tee shirt - you'll probably understand why in a bit.

The space looks quite cramped. Chairs and sheet music holders fill the pit cheek-by-jowl, and musicians further back sit on tiered platforms, and they can easily reach up and touch that ceiling/stage floor above their heads. I didn't see much elbow room (literally) for musicians with bowed instruments, not to mention much fresh air coming through - although there may have been an electric fan or two about that I missed.

Wagner designed it as such so that the music from the orchestra would float upwards, blend together with the singers' voices behind that hood, to then waft towards the audience who would get to hear a special, unusually close-knit, woven tapestry of sound. They say that this is the only opera house with that distinctive mixing of vocal and orchestral music heard by an audience. However, conductors who work here find it extremely challenging to synchronise the sounds of the orchestra with the singers' voices, as the reverberations cause a few seconds' delay between singers and musicians.

I wonder if I'll ever get to hear that marvellous sound in my lifetime. I only need to get in the queue for tickets (not that costly - if I recall, it's something like 20 to 200 euros each) and wait some five or so years before I'll know if I've got a seat. (For Germans, we were told that the waiting period was at least ten years!)

Stage

A double proscenium is another unique feature of the Bayreuther Festspielhaus. Wagner wanted to create an illusion of greater distance while also making the performers appear larger than they are. It's a huge, deep and wide stage with cathedral-high ceiling, and four small houses could fit nicely on that stage. Computer-controlled cables and other technological backstage what-not can be spotted in the wings and in the flies. A couple of old teevee monitors are perched at an angle on each side just behind the proscenium arch.

Too bad that we had no opportunity to experience a Wagner opera in the place solely intended for its performance, but just being physically there, in that famous and historical place, gave us enough awe to last us a long time.

The tour lasted some 30 minutes or so, concluding soon after we took in the vastness of that stage. Our guide spoke in German almost exclusively, but printed information in English is available for non-German-speakers to peruse during the tour.

Souvenirs

Just across the main street from the opera house is the souvenir shop, and most important, the restrooms ('toiletten'). Here you can find the usual postcards and books about Bayreuth and environs. I bought a small pamphlet in English that goes into great detail about the history of the Festspielhaus and the summer opera festival.

Haus Wahnfried

On leaving the Festspielhaus grounds, you can drive a few miles further south and visit the town proper where Wagner's villa, the Haus Wahnfried (Wahnfried House/Richard Wagner Museum) is located (along Richard-Wagner-Strasse). I think it was too late in the day for us to tour the place, so we just stuck to the exteriors.

Wahnfried House is a modest and unassuming two-storey structure of pale pink and cream brick at the front, set at the end of a gravel path lined by trees that make a nice, shady canopy. The gravel path then circles the garden in front of the house, which has in its midst a bronze bust of the young and generous Wagner patron, King Ludwig II. The Wagner family occupied the house until 1966, when Wagner's son Wieland died. Today, it is a museum for Wagner archival material, and was designated as such since the Bayreuth Festival Centennial in 1976.

When you go around the house to the back, you'll spot a giant, white tulip fountain set in the middle of the rear garden. The back of Haus Wahnfried looks nothing like the front, and resembles a miniature White House in design. Walk just a bit further on and you'll find Wagner's simple, self-designed grave, a large rectangular slab of black marble amid a thick bed of green crawlers, neatly trimmed at the stone's sides. Right next to Wagner's tomb is his second wife, Cosima's grave. Both graves are enclosed and hidden by tall plant hedges and trees.

Amazingly enough, the entire grounds of the Wahnfried House are not fenced off at any point from the public, and anyone can walk through them without being accosted for trespassing, or setting off any alarms - this, the place where one of Germany's greatest composers lived!

So…

If you ever find the northern region of Bavaria as part of your visit to Germany, do make a stop at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, but avoid it during the festival season in the summer. It is truly the only opera house of its kind in the world, and possesses much history, musical and otherwise. Guided tours are scheduled at specific times in the day (see link below), and entry for each person is 10 euros.

======
PICTURES!

To view a small set of photos of Bayreuth, go here:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4752534_DfbQq/1/202095973_xqqMv

Note: The Ciao entry form obliged me to choose from the drop-down menus for Nightlife, Shopping, Ease of getting around and Family-friendliness, all of which do not really apply in this review (we had rented a car to get around, did not sample the nightlife or shopping opportunities, didn't have children aboard), so I settled for an Average rating for these four.

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For more information on:

+ Bayreuth Festspiele, see this site (in German only for now):

http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/Anfangsseite/deutsch.htm

Wi kipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayreuth_Festival

Address:
Bayreuth Festival House
Siegfried-Wagner-Allee
D-95447 Bayreuth
Germany

Guided tours available at 10am, 10:45am, 2:15 p.m. and 3 p.m.

+ Haus Wahnfried, see this site (in English):

http://www.wahnfried.de/_engl/index.html

Address:
Richard- Wagner-Str. 48
D-95444 Bayreuth
Germany 

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