Bayreuth (dpa) – For his painting action at the Bayreuth Festival, the Austrian action artist Hermann Nitsch and his team had to take some violent boos. On Thursday, Nitsch literally accompanied a performance of the “Walküre” and had his team pour paint and pelt on huge white walls. There was also cheering from other parts of the audience.
Normally, Nitsch primarily uses animal blood and intestines for his painting activities – but he did without that on the Green Hill.
Musically, too, the performance did not completely convince the audience. The Finn Pietari Inkinen had to endure expressions of displeasure for a somewhat pale, cautious interpretation of the second opera from Richard Wagner’s mammoth work “The Ring of the Nibelung” – even though boos for a conductor in Bayreuth are not the order of the day. In the coming year Inkinen will conduct all four “Ring” operas.
There was rather polite applause for the new Bayreuth “Brünnhilde” Iréne Theorin and Wotan substitute Tomasz Konieczny. He had taken on the role only a few days before the premiere of Günther Groissböck, who, according to the festival management, she currently does not trust because of the long Corona break. On the other hand, there was unreserved cheers for the Bayreuth all-purpose weapon Klaus Florian Vogt as Siegmund and, above all, a powerful-voiced Lise Davidsen as Sieglinde.
The fact that a “Valkyrie” alone – without the other three “Ring” parts – is on the Bayreuth game plan is highly unusual and due to the corona pandemic. A completely new “Ring” production by director Valentin Schwarz was supposed to celebrate its premiere in 2020. Because the festival was canceled, nothing came of it. This should be made up for in 2022. At least musically, this year’s “Walküre” already gave a foretaste of it.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210730-99-611064 / 2
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